Zero to Hero - Reloaded
by Lancer2147
Summary: Orphaned and alone in a big city, Ash Ketchum knew hard work was needed if he wanted his situation to improve. Alongside a shiny Pikachu with fondness for ketchup, mentored by the most unlikely of the gym leaders and with friends to help him along the way, Ash sets up to seize his destiny. AshxMayxDawnxSerena, but in later chapters. Advanceshipping/ Pearlshipping/ Amourshipping.
1. Zero, Reloaded!

It's been a long time since I published anything on this site, if you're one of my loyal subscribers and came for original content, I'm afraid I disappointed you, this is a rewrite of my original Zero to Hero fiction, with some important changes made and errors corrected, to reflect how much I improved as a writer since I first started to write in this site. If you're a newcomer I thank you in advance for being interested in my work, so before the start I'd like to make a quick (re)presentation of this fic:

This is a totally AU work which brings some concepts I rarely found on any other works in this site.

This will be heavy AU, and I plan to converge the animeverse with the gameverse, meddling the storylines and some characters as well. I've also decided to make a parallel between Pokémon battling and sports like soccer, basketball and football, as I felt it was something innovative. There'll be pairings, plural, but rather than just outright revealing them I'll just answer the reviews asking about them.

In this story Ash moved to Vermilion alongside his mother only to discover she was with a terminal illness. My goal is to write a quality work on how those major changes affected his development as a trainer and as a person, sometimes it will be the same outcome of the canon happening in a different way, sometimes it'll be completely new. If I'd let my own reins loose I'd probably be writing all day about this work, so in order to get this over with I'll first publish the rewritten first chapter and then I'll be personally answering the questions about the story in the next chapter.

* * *

_"When you've lost everything, you've got nothing to lose."_ \- Ken Follet

* * *

**Chapter One - Zero, Reloaded!**

Vermilion City – Graveyard

The cemetery is a place of memories, usually painful ones, related to the sadness and grief of saying farewell to one of your loved ones. A youngster; no older than ten, with raven black hair partially covered by a worn out and discolored black woolen cap, wearing a plain black long-sleeved shirt, navy blue plain trousers and finally some worn out white shoes with red details, was kneeling to the grassy field that hosted many tombstones. The boy, devoid of any expression, stared intently to one particular tombstone.

_Delia Ketchum, friend and mother, aged 34_

After few more minutes, the boy's facial features started to change. The once lifeless brown eyes shined bright red for a second before locking at the horizon, staring at a far distant goal that he intended to chase. His eyebrows regained his contours. And finally his mouth, still in a neutral position, made a half smile, half grin. He then untucked a necklace, previously hidden by his long-sleeved shirt. The necklace consisted of a light silver chain and a four pointed, light blue star shaped pendant. Two small green orbs were place into opposite directions of the star core, one being placed near the junction of the pendant with the necklace whilst another stood in the opposite direction, from where a darker blue knot emerged. His mom wore it as a charm, but after she gave it to him he wore it as a necklace.

"_Mom, I'm not going to disappoint you."_

The youngster made a promise, and got up, heading for the exit, without staring back at the tombstone, as if he tried to leave the past in the past.

* * *

Vermilion City – Possum Hole

The infamous Possum Hole neighborhood of Vermilion City was well known for the long list of appearances at the Vermilion City News, mainly at the crime segment, yet, since three years ago this was the place Ash Ketchum called home.

The youngster made his way through the shallow alleys with tremendous familiarity. He glanced around at a group of five men, all of them wearing red, either as shirts, bandanas or caps, in front of a liquor store. The leader of the group was a rather tall man; standing at about 5'9" feet (181 centimeters), he has fair skin and wears an all red outfit, crimson red pants, a red sleeveless shirt, exposing his ripped frame and finally a red bandana around his bald head. He also smokes a cigarette, containing illicit substances and if you looked at his waist level you can see a handgun tucked between his belt and the jeans. The man, known as T-Bone by his fellow gang members was the leader of the Vermilion City Possum Reds, a Gang that was usually involved in drug dealership activities, although some would say that they also did minor jobs for the Yakuza. The man looked down at the youngster that stood at 5'1" feet (155 centimeters).

"Yo Young Smoke, how you doing?"

"Fine…" Ash said dismissively "Also I still don't get why you call me Young Smoke… I don't smoke anyway…"

"Well, where there's smoke there's ash. I mean who names his kid after burnt remains?" T-Bone said, causing the remaining gang members to bark in laughter. Ash stood a bit down headed.

"Now, let's cut this bullshit." T-Bone said "How you dealing with your mother's…" he said, before being interrupted by Ash

"Fine, thanks for asking." Ash said, still keeping his dismissive tone.

"Hey, if you need help, look out for me. The Possum Reds are always looking for new blood. It's not the most glorious lifestyle, but in here you'll always have a family."

Ash looked uncertain, before he once again remembered his late mother.

"_Mother wished so much for my future, I won't disappoint her by becoming a run-of-the-mill thug."_

He then smiled. "I'm sorry T-Bone, but I still want to try some things before I make my decision."

The gangster just sighed. "It's your loss then."

* * *

After walking for some more minutes Ash reached his final destination.

A five pavements building, where his apartment stood. The building was a rather plain one. He went up the stairway as he finally entered his apartment.

The apartment was a hidebound one, a small kitchen that only had room for the oven, the fridge and a small kitchen cabinet. The room was so small that Ash usually had to eat in the living room as there was no place to a table.

If the kitchen was small, the bathroom was minuscule only leaving an inch of room around to move between the shower, toilet and the sink.

The bedroom was comfy at least, a single bed, a bedside table and a small television atop the dresser. It belonged to his mother, now that she's gone he would sleep in here.

Finally the living room was the biggest room in the apartment, not that it meant a lot considering the other parts. A bookshelf filled with some old books, a coffee table, which Ash and Delia usually improvised as a dinner table and Ash's most faithful companion, the couch, where he slept when his mother was still alive. He looked to the couch.

"_I wish I still had to sleep here." _He thought, obviously thinking about his mother.

He then looked at the door and realized that he didn't paid attention to the two letters that were thrown under it.

He picked both, and sat at the couch opening the first one, it was from his landlady.

"_Ash Ketchum,_

_My condolences for your loss. Delia was a great woman and I honestly hope she finds peace wherever she is right now. The reason I'm writing this letter is to inform you of the rent. Delia paid for three months in advance just a week ago, so you won't have to worry about if for some time. That being said I'd like to know if you intend to continue living under this roof. I won't change the price of the rent, so I recommend you to start looking for a job if you wish to keep living here."_

Ash quickly wrote a letter to the landlady, stating his desire to continue living at the building and proposing a meeting where they could discuss the matter furtherly.

He then opened the second letter, it was from the Youth and Adolescence Association.

"_Ash Ketchum,_

_The Youth and Adolescence Association sends his most profound condolences for your loss. We write this letter to inform you that due to having no living relatives you're entitled to receive emancipation. To do so you'll have to convince the social worker that's scheduled to visit you in a month that you're able to feed yourself, pay your bills whilst maintaining a regular attendance rate at the school."_

_Good Luck._

The raven haired boy just sighed, it seems like he had work to do: finding a job.

* * *

Vermilion City – Harbor

Ash was half-heartedly walking towards the Harbor. Soon in the morning he went out, trying to get a job at several kinds of stores that could conciliate the work and study time. So far he has been unsuccessful. He decided to check on the Vermilion Harbor as he heard that they were recruiting.

He was welcomed by the manager, a man on his early fifties, with balding grey hair and small rimmed glasses.

"I assume you're looking for a job." He said, eyeing the youngster

"Yes."

"What are your qualifications?"

"I have none, sir." Ash replied

The man once again eyed Ash.

"Well, I may be able to find something for you, at the docks section of course. After the PPA (Pokémon Protection Agency) prevented us from using Machoke at the Harbor because we didn't met their stupid regulations we're always looking for able bodied men." He said angrily, before clenching his fists and calming a bit "You'll have to help with the discharge of crates and run some errands around the town. We pay the usual rate for hours, I gather you'll be working half shift."

"Yes."

"Okay." He said, looking at a pile of papers.

"This will work." He said, still eyeing the papers.

"This is a contract of employment at the docks. You'll work for the Vermilion Harbor Company for the minimum wage of 749 Yens/ hour for six hours during workdays and ten hours during the weekends. Is that okay?"

"More than okay." Ash said, grinning before shaking the manager hand.

* * *

Vermilion City – Vermilion City Pokémon Gym

After his meeting at the Harbor, Ash went directly to the city's Pokémon Gym. His future could start here. He remembered promising his mother that he would become a great Pokémon Trainer. Not only it was his dream but was something that could send him away from the Possum Hole and send him in a journey through the Kanto Region, the biggest in Japan.

Being an Elite Pokémon Trainer was rewarding financially and gave people a great deal of respect. To the Japanese people in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, being a Pokémon Trainer was the same as being a famous soccer player in Europe or South America or a NBA/NFL player in the USA. Recently the Pokémon League made efforts to expand the Pokémon Battling Brand to USA, establishing a league in the Unova state, and to Europe, where another league was established in France, although it was named after the mythical ancient kingdom of Kalos, as Kalos League, mostly in a maneuver to not cause slights against Germany and Italy, both countries which also made a bid for hosting the league.

Besides the leagues some places around the world like Alola and Orre, both states in the United States, developed interest in Pokémon interaction. Also Fiore, in Italy and Guyana , a country in South America were famed for having some legendary Pokémon living in its territory.

About ten years ago, a Pokémon Slavery scandal came out to the public and shocked everyone. Pokémon were being used as a cheap replacement for human workforce. Several prominent Japanese multinationals were amongst the companies that used this kind of work. The other international governments, like the U.S., China and United Kingdom were outraged as their companies were prejudiced by the unfair competition put by Japanese companies which used this method.

Pokémon species are spread around the world, but in an very unbalanced manner. Recent studies appointed Japan housing about 85 % of the entire Pokémon population in the world, with the U.S. coming second with only 5%. The remaining 10% was the rest of the world Pokémon population, with countries like France, Italy, Brazil and Guyana having the most noticeable percentage amongst those, even though they, when accounted alone couldn't get past the 1% mark.

After several reunions amongst the world power governments it was decided that Pokémon should be preserved and prevented from working in those companies, with Japan giving reassurances that his companies only used human labor.

To properly supervise the use of the Pokémon, the PPA (Pokémon Protection Agency), a NGO, based in Saffron, the Japanese capital, was created. After another round of meetings it was decided that Pokémon competitions, like Pokémon battling and Pokémon contest would be allowed, but only under some extremely strict rules.

The problem came when the Pokémon League realized that they couldn't properly watch over an increased number of trainers, so they decided to "elitize" the access to Pokémon.

The first measure was to create a universal currency when it came to trading Pokémon related merchandize, the Pokémon Dollar, commonly known as P-Dollar being created. Expert financers aided at the development of the currency and thus established a fixed rate of 1-1 when converting Yens to P-Dollars as Japan is the epicenter of the pokémon world. The P-Dollar followed the Yen cambium rate, thus being able to be properly exchanged for any other currency in the world. Using P-Dollars was the only legal way to purchase a Pokémon related product such as a Pokéball or a Potion, although you also would need to be a certified trainer.

A Trainer License that allowed a person to properly own, and compete with Pokémon was currently priced at 450,000 Pokémon Dollars, roughly two years of Ash's income. Besides that, the person interested in obtaining such a license would also be required to pass an exam about Pokémon.

However it was possible to get a discount of sorts as long as you got a recommendation letter from a Gym Leader, Elite Four or a Pokémon Professor. Usually the max discount you could get is a 50% rate, so instead of paying 450,000 Pokémon Dollars, the recommended trainer would "only" pay 225,000 Pokémon Dollars.

Pokémon Storage and PokéBalls were overpriced too. To use the storage system you would need to pay an extra 450,000 Pokémon Dollars fee to the league, besides paying for land and the machinery to properly transfer Pokémon. The cheapest Pokéball is tagged at 20,000 Pokémon Dollars, and could only be sold to certified trainers, that possessed the Pokémon Trainer/Coordinator License.

In another measure to prevent Pokémon abuse, the PPA established that trainers should only be allowed to leave in a journey after reaching a certain age. Ash lucked out in this department as Kanto, alongside Johto had the lowest age requirement, it being 14. Hoenn and Unova allowed trainers to leave after they were 15. Sinnoh's age requirement was 16. Finally, Kalos only allowed trainers to leave in a journey after they were 17.

So, Ash was planning to get everything set to go on a journey as soon as he reached fourteen, which meant that he needed to amass a huge amount of money for the license and hopefully find a breeder to sell him a Pokémon Egg for a reduced price. He also intended to hone his skills as a Pokémon trainer even before he got himself a Pokémon, so he decided to study some old databooks that he found at his school library. But why he was standing in front of the Vermilion City Gym? Well, Ash planned to…

The raven haired boy's musings were stopped a teen, around fifteen years, stormed out of the Gym, knocking Ash to the ground with the door, in the process.

Ash stood a bit confused for a few seconds, still sitting in the ground, until a figure blocked the sun, offering him a hand. Ash reluctantly accepted the help to get up. Finally having the chance to look at who offered him the help, Ash gasped as he saw the towering presence of Vermilion's most famous inhabitant: Lt. Surge, the Flying American.

Standing at an astonishing height of 7'4" (224 centimeters), Surge looked more like a basketball player than a Pokémon trainer. He has a spiky, short blond hair, and blue, piercing eyes. He wears a sort of military outfit, although he opts to leave his shirt open, showing his extremely ripped physic, which made him one of Vermilion's most well sought bachelors.

Surge gazed at Ash.

"You fine, brat?"

"Yyeah, thanks."

"Okay, now get out of the way, I need to close the gym." He said firmly

Seeing a good chance to impress the leader and hopefully acquire the chance for an apprenticeship at one of the region strongest gyms, Ash offered to help. The Lieutenant just raised an eyebrow, before accepting the help.

The help Ash provided basically consisted on pressing on and off security switches, allowing Surge to properly check on areas of the gym without being electrified. The raven haired boy kept glancing around, trying to find a good subject to engage in conversation with Surge in order to find an opening to ask for a internship. The chance never came, and he was heading to the exit he felt the doors locking, as he turned to question the gym leader, he felt a heavy hit at his head and collapsed.

Unknown Location

Ash woke up, with a heavy headache. He opened his eyes, only to see nothing, pitch black darkness. He tried to get up, but found his arms and legs tied, being unable to move.

"Ash Ketchum… aged 10, son of Delia Ketchum and an unnamed father, born in Pallet Town where he lived until he moved to Vermilion, alongside his mother, three years ago. Delia Ketchum is dead now and nothing ties you to this city anymore, so you decided to steal the city gym…" came the accusatory voice that Ash recognized belonging to Lt. Surge.

Ash tried to reply but found his mouth gagged.

"..but not in my city. My Gym my rules, so give me a reason for not kill you right now." Surge said angrily, before removing Ash's gag.

"Everything you said about me is true, I'm ten years old, son of Delia Ketchum and an unnamed father, born in Pallet Town until I moved to Vermilion when I was seven… My mother is dead too… but I never intended to steal anything." He defended himself

"You dare to lie to me?"

"I'm not a liar." Ash yelled angrily

Surge then removed the blindfold in Ash's eyes, allowing the youngster to see once again. Without taking his eyes from Surge, he quickly looked around, he was in a sort of interrogation room, why Surge had one of those in a Pokémon Gym he didn't knew.

"So you decided to kindly help me without asking for anything in return?" the American asked ironically

"What's the problem with that?" Ash asked

"Nobody does anything for free, lest anybody from your area." Surge replied

"Okay…" Ash said downheartedly "… I wanted to help so I could get an apprenticeship here, I'm from the Possum Hole, but I'm not a thief, I'd never steal your Pokémon."

"Apprenticeship? Don't make me laugh. I doubt you have a Pokémon Trainer License."

"I don't. But I plan to, so I wished to prepare ahead."

Surge then locked eye contact with Ash.

"I will tell you a story, Ash Ketchum. I was born in Unova, an important state of the USA. I had this guy who was my best friend, Kent Chancellor, we did everything together, study, party, we even got to a threesome together." Surge said shocking Ash by the sexual connotation.

"I fucked her mouth while Kent got her pussy." He continued, before realizing Ash's shocked expression.

"But that's off topic, I got carried away. Anyway, Kent and I decided to join the Air Force. Boot camp was hell, but we managed to pass. Then came the damned Gulf War, and they sent us two unexperienced pilots to fight. Those damn Iraqi shot our planes gas tank. I was lucky to have an electric Pokémon by my side, as I used its electricity to power my plane. Kent didn't had the same luck."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Ash said honestly

"It was the government fault. They sent two unproven boys to war, to their graves. If they had your mentality to be prepared before something really occurred, Kent would still be alive. I don't compliment people very often, but I admire your willingness."

"So this means you'll accept me as your apprentice?" Ash asked hopefully.

Surge just grinned , before standing behind Ash's figure, that was still tied to a chair.

"Not yet." He said before hitting the boy's head once again, sending him to unconsciousness.

* * *

Unknown Location

When Ash woke up once again, still blindfolded, gagged and tied. He felt like he was in movement somehow, quickly coming to the conclusion that he was being transported in a vehicle of sorts. His pained groans didn't go unnoticed by the Lieutenant, who proceeded to give a speech.

"You know, when I joined the army we had a rite of passage of sorts. Before we were even allowed to join the battalion and train at the barracks we were dumped at a hazardous location, in order to prove we had the wish to survive. I was left at the Valley of the Death, in the Mojave Desert. It was awful, dehydration, heat, cold, poisoning or being eaten to death by coyotes and pumas were all viable options. My commander dumped me there with a canteen of water and a pistol, loaded with a single bullet. Even thirty years after this, I still keep that bullet, the day I became a man wasn't when I first had sex, or I had to kill in war, no, the day I became a man was the day I managed to survive at the desert."

"So I'll tell you right now. Your fate is horrible, honestly I can't help but see you joining one of the gangs at the Possum Hole and ending up selling drugs, still I'm willing to give you a chance to change this. I've lost a thing here, I won't tell you exactly what the thing is, but you need to recover it. If you do so, I'll accept you as my apprentice."

After several minutes, the vehicle stopped. Surge then threw Ash on the ground and put a knife on his still tied hand.

"I'm making things easy on you. I'm giving you a knife, a canteen of water and a Pokéball, more than what you could've hopped for."

"Don't die." He said before once again starting the vehicle's engine, leaving Ash alone.

As soon as Surge left, the raven haired youngster tried to use the knife to cut the rope that was restraining his hands. After about thirty minutes he finally got loose, and quickly managed to free his legs and remove his blindfold.

Glancing around he noted that he was in a forest, although he couldn't know exactly the exact time, as the dense trees didn't allowed the sun to enter the area. He then eagerly took the Pokéball Surge gave him.

"_Let's see what he gave me._"

"I choose you." Ash said, eagerly, barely containing his excitement. Only to see the bright figure of… nothing.

He stared blankly at the scene for a few seconds before yelling loudly.

"Who gives a kid a Pokéball without any Pokémon in it? It's like giving someone a gun without any bullets." Ash complained

After some more moments he sighed. He was all alone in that one.

Carefully walking into the forest, being extra careful to not trip on any tree branches or anger the inhabiting Pokémon, Ash wandered around for some hours. He cursed his luck until came upon a tree, stuffed with several, round, small and blue berries.

"_Oran Berries." _He thought

The greater part of the fruits were placed on higher branches, being unreachable for Ash's small body, but he managed to climb into some lower branches and picking up some of the fruits that felt to the ground too, amassing the amount of fourteen berries.

"_At least I have something to eat for a few days, now I just need to find water."_

He munched one of the berries before setting out to explore the forest once again. He continued to look around until he saw a sign.

"_V…i.i..…F….r….s." _Ash narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher the rest of the sign, but was unsuccessful as the letter were totally faded.

He shrugged before resuming his journey once again.

Twenty minutes later, he found a river that flowed crystalline water, he the refilled his canteen and looked around, noticing a rocky structure, that resembled a cave of sorts. The entrance was awfully narrow and he had a hard time to crawl into the structure. He noticed that this was a very naturally protected structure.

After some pondering he decided to set camp at the rock as he felt protected and was near to a body of water, allowing him to be at the best of his game when he woke up, as he needed to be to find Surge's missing item.

As he lay down he noticed a nest of sorts, and to his surprise an egg. He quickly got close to the nest, touching the egg, feeling its warmth. The egg was a complete golden yellow, with exception of its lower part, which was a fractured black segment. The egg was warm but there was no sign of any activity at the area, his parents probably being attacked, caught or just decided to abandon the egg.

He decided to sleep, leaving the decision regarding the egg to tomorrow. As he drifted off to sleep he subconsciously started to get closer and closer to the egg .

After some hours an out looker would see Ash peacefully sleeping, whilst hugging the egg.

Ash woke up with a sensation of warmth, heat. As he regained consciousness he found himself hugging the egg, which was glowing white. Much to Ash's surprise, the egg hatched, giving place to a small rodent like creature, with golden fur, pink checks and black neck, ears and tails. The creature eyes were black with white irises.

The rodent looked at Ash, tilting his head to the side.

"Pichu?"

**End of Chapter One**

* * *

That's a wrap, before I end this I think it'll be better to say some things beforehand. Readers which read the previous story (which is still available in my profile) probably haven't noticed that much of a change, mainly correcting the ever present grammatical errors (I'm not a native speaker after all) and some minor addition in the poké dollar section. At the origional work most of people heavily frowned at this particular notion, so I'd like to assure you this won't be anything overly zealous, I just tried to merge things together, Vermilion for instance is the counterpart for the real world Yokohama, whilst Saffron is Tokyo, I'll use most of the canon names for the cities, whils making some strategical changes which will be explained, for instance in this world France was called Kalos to match with the game and New York was renamed to Unova. Also this fiction, unlike the series will be happening in the current time, not 1997, so expect to see the technological advances and references to some popular culture. Also note that Ash will only begin his journey at age fourteen, which means the romantic interactions won't be that awkward anymore.

Finally, I'd like to than you for taking your time reading my work and ask for a follow, favorite and review, it's always good to be complimented or receive positive feedback.


	2. They'll know my name

As I had some spare time I decided to rewrite this story's second chapter. Since the first few chapters will be merely the same story with some minor changes and grammatical corrections, I think I'll be able to fully rewrite them towards where I left off in the original work in one or two weeks tops. After this updates will take longer, but will happen. Check the end of chapter to see answers to the reviews.

* * *

_"A best friend is someone who makes you laugh even when you think you'll never smile again."_ \- Unknown

* * *

**Chapter Two - They'll know my name**

Ash looked dumbfounded at the small rodent, whose head was still tilted to his side. Recalling some of the lessons he had at Professor Oak's Summer Camp, when he was still living in Pallet, he attentively looked at the rodent.

"_It looks a bit like Pikachu, but I recall him being bigger… wait… if I remember correctly Pikachu could evolve from another Pokémon too… so… oh I remember now, it's Pichu, a baby Pokémon."_

He then knelt to the ground, trying to not look threatening to the newborn.

"Hi, Pichu, my name is Ash Ketchum."

The newly identified Pokémon then stood still for a few seconds before jumping at Ash's arms, hugging him.

Ash wasn't used to physical contact ever since his mother died, so having someone, even if not human, hugging him felt surprisingly good and he couldn't help but return the hug to the small baby Pokémon. After some minutes Ash once again knelt to the ground.

"I'm going to look around for food and to see if I find Surge's missing item, although I don't have any idea of what it is. Stay here ok?"

The golden colored Pokémon nodded, looking at Ash's eyes.

As he made his way towards the entrance of the cavern, he heard almost unperceptive steps, he quickly turned around to see Pichu following him. He quickly scooped up the baby in his arms, placing him once again near the nest.

"I'll go, you stay, okay?"

The Pokémon once again nodded.

Once again hearing footsteps, Ash sighed, turning around and unsurprising facing Pichu, who had a bit of smug expression at his face.

"You don't have the slightest idea of what I'm talking about, right?" he asked, getting a nod from the pokémon. The raven haired youngster then sighed once again.

"I guess you'll be following me then?"

The baby Pokémon shrugged before nodding, causing Ash to smile.

"Let's go then."

* * *

The duo walked through the forest, the sun shined bright and since they came to tree-less clearing they could see that it was already morning, as he glanced around, he noticed that the shades of the rocks and the few trees were very short, so he presumed that it was around midday. He looked around to see Pichu, following him although he was falling behind.

Ash then took an Oran Berry and the canteen of water, and offered them to Pichu, who happily accepted. As the Pokémon finished eating and drinking, Ash glanced at the canteen.

"_It's almost empty, it's better if I start looking for water to refill it, dehydration can be a trouble."_

He then looked at Pichu, who was sitting on the ground, with a tired expression.

"_He's still a newborn, no wonder why he's so tired."_

He then scooped Pichu in his arms, before putting him above his head.

"Pichu you're tired, so please rest above my head."

Pichu squealed, happy with the view and the rest place Ash provided.

After some more minutes, Ash finally stopped in his tracks, hearing the sound of running water.

After following the sound for some minutes, Ash finally reached the river, which flowed with crystal clear water, giving the area an air of calmness.

He quickly refilled his canteen and looked around once again, regretting that he didn't have a clock to keep track of time. He, in a wild guess, would say that it was about 3 P.M. but he wasn't sure.

"_I don't want to get lost in a forest full of wild pokémon at night, I need to find a shelter, and then use the remaining time to start searching through the forest for Surge's item."_

He glanced around, this time he wasn't lucky to be near a cave of sorts, so he decided to walk a little so he could find a better place to settle in. He kept walking sidewards to the river, going in the opposite direction of the water flow, as the sun started to fade through the horizon, creating shades from the trees, the weather became quite pleasant, in fact so pleasant that Pichu decided to use Ash's head as a mattress for a nap.

After some minutes a tree formation caught the attention of the youngster from Vermilion. Tall, robust trees grew almost glued to each other, in a peculiar spherical formation, which would cover the area equivalent of a small room. The closeness of the trees would make a natural room of sorts, a perfect place for Ash and Pichu to sleep in, however they were so close that it was impossible to get in. However a particular pair of trees seemed to be a bit more separated than the rest. Ash frowned.

"_Now I regret eating that much, things would be much easier if I was thinner."_

Ash was by no means fat, but he wasn't a broomstick either. Compared to another ten years old boys, Ash would be considered slight broader than the normal. However if you just regard his eating habits you would be impressed by his sheer appetite. The raven haired boy had an appetite that would rival a Snorlax, but still managed to stay fit.

He then took the sleeping Pichu, and put the Pokémon into the makeshift room with ease. Then using some contortionism he managed to squeeze his way through the room too.

He glanced at the sleeping form of the pokémon, babies had a really heavy sleep.

"_It's still a bit early to go sleep, since I still don't have the slightest about how Surge's item looks like I guess I'll scout the area around for a bit."_

He was about to leave when he noticed something on the ground, a candy of sorts, enveloped in a blue cover.

"_Maybe this is Surge's item? No… he doesn't look like someone who likes sweets. I think I'll give this to Pichu, babies usually like candies." _He mused before pocketing the candy and leaving to do some scouting.

* * *

"Pichu." the rodent said, using his small paws to poke the sleeping form of Ash Ketchum.

The trainer just shifted around, without waking up.

The pokémon didn't gave up and once again poked the trainer's face, who grumbled a inaudible answer and once again shifted his sleeping position.

After some more minutes without success, Pichu had enough, jumped above Ash and released his most powerful Thundershock attack, effectively waking the youngster.

"AHHHH…WHAT THE HELL?" the boy yelled in surprise as he got up.

He glanced around to see the grinning face of Pichu.

"What was that for?" he demanded

Pichu pointed towards the entry of the grotto, more specifically the sun light that slowly entered the room.

Ash understood the message that the Pokémon was trying to give: he overslept.

"Guess I overslept for bit." He said rubbing the back of his neck, before turning to the rodent. "Great attack by the way." He complimented, causing the pokémon to puff his chest.

Ash then remembered the candy he found yesterday. Taking it out of a pocket in his pant he called the pokémon.

"Pichu?" the creature asked, tilting his head to side, curiously.

"Have this." Ash said, extending the hand with the unwrapped candy, which had a vibrant pink color. "Consider a thank you gift for sticking with me."

As the Pokémon reached for the candy and started to voraciously devour it with a happy expression Ash chuckled, before opting to once again speak again, with a melancholic tone.

"My mother died a month ago… and I thought I was alone. I expected that people would take pity on me… help me. But I discovered that the world doesn't waits, if we don't pick up the pace we're going to be left behind without any second thoughts. So I vowed to live for myself, no more self-pitying, no more weaknesses, I must move forward, only forward."

By this time Pichu had already finished the candy and looked at Ash with an attentive expression.

The boy from Vermilion had no idea if Pichu could understand what he said, he suspected that it didn't understand the words, not all of them at least. But it didn't mattered, he felt like he needed to vent this to someone who cared, and Pichu really cared.

"I'm just 10 years old, and so much shit happened to me already. People at my age should be at school and playing with toys, not braving a forest to have a shot at following his dreams. Yet I'm thankful, I don't know if I will find Surge's item, nor if I will even leave this forest alive. But what matters most is that I entered here as a kid, I'll leave as a man."

The raven haired boy then took the Pokéball that Surge gave him from his pocket, eyeing it intently.

"I always expected to be alone, and I already accepted that as my fate. But then you appeared. You'll always be my first friend. Four years from now. I plan on starting a journey to achieve my dream: become a Pokémon Master."

He then nodded to himself and extended the Pokéball to Pichu.

"I'd be honored if you joined me. I live in Vermilion, it's not pretty, and it's not glamorous. The only thing I can promise you is that we'll stand everything together. It's your decision to make and regardless of it you'll still be my friend. So, Pichu, you want to join me?" Ash asked, extending the Pokéball in his right hand to the pokémon.

Pichu had a determined gaze when he lifted his small paw to touch the center of the Pokéball, being sucked in.

The ball shook three times is Ash's hand, before it stopped, marking the capture. He planned to call Pichu back, but suddenly the Pokéball opened, revealing Pichu.

"What's the matter Pichu?" Ash asked worriedly.

The rodent pointed at the Pokéball then made a disgusted face, crossing his arms in a X.

"I see. You don't like the inside of the Pokéball right?" he asked, getting a nod from the pokémon.

"It's ok. I won't oblige you to stay in it unless it's really necessary." Ash said, before bowing his head. "Hop in."

* * *

The duo navigated through the forest with some ease, considering they had acquired experience since they first came there. Ash was amazed by how much he could learn in just two days. In a smart move he decided to scout the area bordering the river first as he would have a relative ease in finding his way back to the grotto.

Using shadows as a way to predict the time, whilst not always completely reliable because the sun could be overshadowed by clouds, was proving to be Ash's most reliable skill. The logic behind it was simple. At midday the sun would be directly above the area, therefore casting no shadow. So by measuring the length of the before mentioned shadows he would have a notion of how closer he was to midday as the shadows shrink and by sunset as the shadows prolonged once again.

Glancing around Ash guessed that it was around 2-3 PM, the sun usually sets at 7, so he still had a lot of exploring to do today. After wandering for a few more minute, the duo came to a halt as they reached a more enclosed part of the forest, the sun hardly came through the numerous trees. Ash then noticed a piece of broken wood in the grass. It was covered by green moss, probably had been there for a long time. He then glanced around at a broken pole that stood a few feet away from where he found the wood.

The piece had a two edged arrow form. The raven haired trainer wannabe quickly concluded that this was a sign of sorts. He quickly used his hands to clean the moss, finally revealing the contents of the sign.

_VIRIDIAN CITY - __VIRIDIAN FOREST __\- PEWTER CITY_

He then looked at his companion.

"It looks like we're at the Viridian Forest." Ash said while he inwardly scowled, the way from Viridian, or Pewter to Vermilion was long.

He then carefully restored the sign to the pole, using some fallen vines to tie it properly. As he appreciated his handwork he felt an urge to leave his mark, he went to the backward part of the sign and used the knife Surge gave him to carve a message for the eternity.

* * *

_ASH KETCHUM, FUTURE POKÉMON MASTER AND HIS BEST FRIEND PICHU_

_THEY'LL KNOW OUR NAMES _

_VIRIDIAN FOREST_

_2012/06/21_

* * *

"What do you think Pichu?" Ash asked, getting an approving nod from the rodent.

"_They will know our names… a good phrase indeed." _He mused silently.

The youngster attention then turned back into a very large tree, standing at approximately 60 feet's (about twenty meters), towering above the other plants, however what really caught Ash's attention was the greenish stone with a yellow thunderbolt pattern at it center.

"_A Thunderstone: Surge's lost item."_

He then frowned, the Stone was resting at the intersection of the trunk and one of the lowermost stems of the tree. Ash could guess it would take at least four copies of himself, standing one atop of the other, to be able to properly reach the stone, so he guessed that the stem stood around twenty feet (about 6 meters) away from the ground. There was no way he could climb that higher, so he decided that making the stone fall was his best chance of retrieving it. He then saw pebbles, not overly large, nor heavy, but still big enough to hit the stone and heavy enough to cause the stem to shake should it was hit. He wasted no time in throwing the pebbles. He even allowed Pichu to throw it too, the Pokémon could only throw extremely small pebbles and without any hint of precision, but if it made the pokémon feel like contributing, Ash had no objections.

After an hour the duo was still throwing pebbles, Ash managed to hit the stem twice, causing it to shake, but not enough to cause the stone to fall. The boy then took a slightly larger pebble, taking a deep breath before launching it upwards, hoping to hit the Thunderstone. The pebble rose with considerable force.

5 feet.

10 feet.

15 feet.

20 feet.

"_Now or never."_ Ash though, as he saw the pebble lose a bit of the momentum. Then it finally reached the required height, but missing the target by a few inches.

The pebble continued to arise, before finally coming into contact with the foliage at the edge of an upper branch.

Ash sighed, turning to grab another pebble before he heard a screech. A few seconds later a small bird-like pokémon with brown feather landed next to him. He spotted a very angry look, Ash then noticed the callus at the small avian Pokémon head. He gulped before looking at the pokémon eyes.

"I'm terribly sorry about that."

His apologies felt on deaf ears as the bird screeched, flying towards him.

Pichu glanced at the scene amusedly, seeing Ash run from an enraged Spearow was amusing, he wasn't going to let his trainer get hurt, but he could at least enjoy the sight a little. After some more moments the rodent decided to step in. Charging his cheek pouches with electrical energy, he released a Thundershock at the Spearow.

The avian Pokémon immediately glanced at the rodent, and grunted before leaving once again, with an outraged expression.

"That was a close on, thank you Pichu." Ash said before resuming his previous task.

A few minutes later a loud screech interrupted the duo once again. They looked above at the sight of four Spearows, one of which the one whose head was hit the pebble as he still had the callus and the angry expression. However at the center of the group of Spearows stood a large avian pokémon, that vaguely resembled a woodpecker, it had full brown plumes and a large beak that whose color was a tone in between pink and red. Despite not knowing much about pokémon species Ash quickly recognized the larger bird as a Fearow, Spearow's evolution.

"Crap… I assume talking won't get us out of this now. Pichu, please fight by my side." Ash asked getting an approving nod of the rodent.

The Spearows attacked in an unorganized fashion, trying to encircle the rodent, whilst Fearow stood behind, glancing at Pichu with a threatening gaze.

"Pichu, don't let them run circles around you, use Thundershock to disperse them." Ash commanded

"Piiichuuuu!" the rodent yelled, releasing an electric current, that made the opposing pokémon stop their assault and scatter back.

"Great work! We need to take down those Spearows one by one. Feint left and fire a Thundershock at the rightmost one."

Pichu dashed forward, before making the feint, aligning himself diagonally with the birds. The rosy cheeks started to charge electricity, as he fired a fully-fledged Thundershock.

The first three Spearow dodged the attack by taking flight, but the final one, surprised by the range of the attack couldn't move quickly enough, being hit by the attack, and fainting instantly.

"Amazing Pichu, now let's divert, get in close and hit two at the same time."

The yellow pokémon did as asked, taking use of the Spearows blind fury to sneak upon their guard and unleash a diverted Thundershock, which knocked out two other Spearows, only leaving the calloused one left.

"Just one more. Wait until it gets closer, then jump above him and attack Thundershock once again."

The angry bird gave a loud screech and soared towards Pichu in a straight charge.

Steeling his gaze the electric type waited until Spearow was a few feet away, then he leapt above, unleashing a Thundershock targeting the bird under him. The attack knocked the remaining Spearow, but much Ash and Pichu's surprise, Fearow decided to join the fight, charging at Pichu, who still was in airborne.

"Shit. Use Thundershock to repel him."

However Pichu couldn't recharge fast enough, being hit by Fearow's Wing Attack and thrown backwards, crashing at one of the trees.

"PICHU!" Ash yelled in concern for his friend.

Pichu managed to get up, but was bruised and tired by the large usage of attacks.

"Pichu you can't fight like that. Leave, I'll act as a decoy." Ash said determinedly

The youngster glanced at the Fearow, apparently hitting Pichu physically wasn't his best idea. The contact triggered Pichu's ability : Static, paralyzing Fearow. But even in diminished speed the large bird was still a threatening presence, he was too bulkier. Still the woodpecker pokémon floated above Ash.

He slowly charged towards Pichu, but stopped dead in his tracks as Ash appeared opening his arms.

"You won't get Pichu." He then turned to the small rodent "Go to the grotto, this oversized woodpecker won't have a shit on me."

Pichu, despite his injured state couldn't help but snicker at Ash's remark and Fearow's indignant face. But still he knew Ash could get badly hurt, he wanted to protect his trainer, he wanted to protect his friend. Then he felt it, slowly building from the inside: power.

He then let it take over, glowing with golden colored electricity. He channeled it, before moving in instinct. He got on all fours and charged at the Fearow. The avian pokémon surprised by the sudden change in power of Pichu could do nothing but widen his eyes and hope for the best. Pichu, however was feeling at his best, this power, the sensation of pushing through his limits, he grinned wickedly, slamming at Fearow's belly and sending it colliding against the trunk of the tree, knocking him out whilst making the Thunderstone fall into the ground in the process. Pichu then felt the recoil, power painfully leaving his body, as he looked at his trainer he couldn't feel any regret, he did what he needed to do.

Ash watched the scene dumbfounded, until Pichu collapsed at the ground.

"PICHU!" he yelled running towards the injured pokémon. Pichu just looked him with a proud look on his face. Ash then took an Oran Berry from his pocked, feeding it to the rodent.

"Eat, this will give you some energy, but I still need to find proper help to you." He said as he watched the pokémon eat. "I know you hate Pokéballs, but I have no choice… please don't hate me." Ash said, taking off Pichu's pokeball.

The rodent just nodded in understanding, before being sucked in by the ball.

The youngster then made his way towards the Fearow, picking up the Thunderstone that was near him. Then he gazed at the bird pokémon, his eyes didn't had the fierce expression from before, now they showed only pure fear. Ash smiled, patting the Pokémon in his head.

"Good battle." He said before taking another Oran Berry from his pouch. He extended it to the pokémon, surprising it greatly.

"Eat, it'll replenish your energy."

Fearow, nodded, eating the berry.

Ash then took all his remaining berries and put them on the ground, in front of Fearow.

"This is all we have. We're sorry for attacking your nest. Consider those berries our apology."

He said, making his way out of the forest, leaving a very surprised Fearow behind.

* * *

In a fast paced walk, Ash quickly left the forest and reached a city, he then glanced at a plate near the entrance.

_VIRIDIAN CITY: The City of Evergreen_

Viridian was a large town center, with a healthy mixture of apartments and houses. Several trees and meadows adorned the city, making its epithet true. The city was also known as the gateway to the Indigo League, being the closest city to the famed championship.

In different circumstances, Ash would be eager to explore the city. But now his only concern was getting help for Pichu.

"_I can't go to the Pokémon Center because I don't have the trainer license. I can go to the PokéMart to buy a potion, but I don't have money…"_

He then remembered where he came from, Possum's Hole, Vermilion's most dangerous neighborhood, he remembered seeing some kids of his class poaching goods from a convenience store, and how they did it. It pained him to do it, but it was for Pichu, and he would pay back… someday. He glanced at the clear sky.

"_There's no choice then, forgive me mother but it looks like I'll have to steal."_

Gritting his teeth, steeling his gaze and clenching his fists forcefully, Ash started to walk towards the blue roof of the Pokémon Market.

However Ash was stopped by a female voice.

"Ash?"

* * *

Ten years old Leaf Greene was making her way home after another day at The Pokémon Trainers Prep School. The Trainers Prep School added fundamentals of Pokémon battling to its curriculum in order to prepare its students for their journey when time came. She was certain about going on a journey, but she still didn't know what she was aiming for. She was torn between battling and contests, although she would probably have to leave to Sinnoh or Hoenn should she choose the latter. There were some proposals to bring contest to Kanto but as far she knew it wasn't anything concrete.

The class best student, Gary Oak, the grandson of the famed Professor Samuel Oak, already declared, in his own words that he "was going to whoop some ass at the Indigo Conference." Damian, another student at the school, also declared his interest on competing at the Indigo Conference too. Most of the girls opted for contests or musicals, an invention from Unova that slowly was reaching Kanto, because it was cute.

Leaf, whilst popular at School didn't had any friends there, her only close friend moving to France a few years ago. She was on talking terms with Gary Oak, an impressive feat considering the young Oak smugness and apparent arrogance, although she considered him to be overconfident instead.

She credited this because of the days she spent with him at the Professor Oak Summer Camp. She sighed. Leaf enjoyed a lot her experiences at the Summer Camp, she, Gary, Serena and…

"Ash?"

* * *

The youngster turned to see a beautiful girls looking at him with a surprised face. The girl has white skin, brown eyes and a long brown hair, which reached the middle of her back. She wears a red miniskirt and a turquoise sleeveless top, truly a pretty girl.

However, Ash didn't paid (that much) attention to the girl's appearance, instead opting to try to remember where he saw this girl before.

The girl apparently caught Ash's confusion.

"Leaf. Leaf Greene." She said, hoping to make the boy to remember her.

Ash graced an understanding expression, before once again frowning.

"From Professor Oak's Summer Camp." She said with an exasperated expression, putting her hands on her hips.

Finally it clicked for Ash.

"Oh I remember you. You always hung around that other girl, the blonde one."

"Yes, Serena."

"You're living in Viridian?" Ash asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes, alongside my mother and uncle and you? Still living on Pallet?"

"I wish." He said, causing Leaf to raise an eyebrow. "I'm living at Vermilion." He said, deciding to omit the fact that he came from Vermilion's number one dangerous neighborhood.

"That's surely a long way from there. Are you visiting someone here?"

"No…" he said looking around "Leaf, can I tell you a secret?"

Leaf just nodded.

"Then follow me."

Ash guided Leaf to an empty alley, before taking a Pokéball and releasing the still injured Pichu.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT YOU DID TO HIM?" Leaf yelled, seeing Pichu's injured state.

"Chill out. He's my Pokémon, he got injured when we were attacked by a flock of Spearow at the Viridian Forest."

"But you're just ten, you can't have a Pokémon." Leaf argued.

"I can't but I do, rules are meant to be broken. Long story short I found his egg abandoned at a cave, I assumed it would be better if I took him with instead of leaving it alone at a forest."

Leaf's expression softened. "You're right. What you're going to do about his injuries?"

"I was planning to steal a Potion or two from the PokéMart." Ash replied nonchalantly

"WHAT?" Leaf yelled

"I can't take it to the PokéCenter. I won't leave my partner unattended. It was nice seeing you Leaf." Ash replied as he withdrew Pichu and made his way out of the alley.

"WAIT! I won't let you become a thief, let's go to my uncle, he probably has some spare medicine at his home."

Ash frowned for a bit, he really didn't want to get Leaf, or any adult involved at this whole mess.

"He won't tell on you, I promise." She said, earning a nod from the boy.

* * *

The duo then walked to a high class residential area. Ash glanced at the mansions, he wasn't used to that kind of luxury living.

Much to Ash's surprise Leaf stopped in the adorned gate of a big mansion, with a large yard covered in grass and large Pokémon designed fountains.

"Hey Uncle Scott, it's Leaf."

The gate then opened, allowing Ash and Leaf access.

The main room was gigantesque. The floor was made of mahogany wood, and the red rugs and bookshelves added a bit of a gothic touch to the place. However the man who greeted the duo was anything but gothic. He has a curly brown hair and a well-developed belly. His clothing choice also wasn't very fashionable either. White crocs, white cargo shorts and blue Hawaiian shirt, with white details. He wore sunglasses, making his eyes unseen.

"Is that your boyfriend?" he asked causing, Leaf to blush

"WHAT? NO! Ash's just a friend."

"Is that so?" he said amusedly

Ash however was still absorbed in observing the mansion, so Leaf had to elbow him in the ribs.

"Sorry." He said, before extending his hand to Scott. "I'm Ash Ketchum."

"Scott Wallace, Leaf's uncle. How may I help you?"

Ash wordlessly took Pichu's pokéball, releasing it.

"He's injured, I can't go to the Pokémon Center because I have no Trainer's License, but I can't leave him like that either."

"I understand give me a few minutes, Pichu will be as good as new."

True to its promise Scott came back with a much better looking Pichu.

"Pichu!" the rodent squealed, jumping into Ash's arms, who gladly returned the hug.

"I was so worried buddy, thanks for saving me."

Leaf at first didn't liked how Ash conducted the whole incident, but after witnessing the heartwarming reunion, she felt glad about helping Ash.

"_I wonder if I'll have a good relationship with my Pokémon too."_ She mused

"Ash, I'd like to point an interesting thing." Scott interrupted. "Have you ever heard of Shiny Pokémon?"

"No."

"A Shiny Pokémon is a pokémon that presents a different coloration than the usual for his species. For instance, a Shiny Gyarados, usually blue colored, would instead have red skin. Shiny Pokémon are extremely rare and a much sought asset by Pokémon collectors." Leaf explained

"Cool…But why you're telling me that?"

"Because your Pichu happens to be shiny." Scott, explained, getting a confused look by Ash and Leaf.

"But he has his regular color." Leaf said.

"Actually no." Scott said, getting a book. "Pichu are usually paler than Pikachu and Raichu." He said, opening a encyclopedia he got from a bookshelf in a page which showed images of the Pichu evolutionary line.

"Ash's Pichu has the same color as a regular Pikachu. Should him evolve to Pikachu he'll be orange instead of yellow."

"Wow, nice." Ash said

"While being shiny doesn't make a pokémon stronger than another, it surely draws more attention. This can either be good or bad, so thread carefully." Scott advised

"I'll, thanks for the advice. By the way, do you know where the bus terminal is?"

"Where you're going to?" the adult asked

"Vermilion City."

"I'll give you a ride. You are coming, Leaf?"

"I have homework to do."

"No sweat then. Follow me Ash."

Before Ash left he turned to Leaf.

"Thanks for helping me, Leaf I truly owe you one. When we start our journey four years from now let's meet. It' a promise."

The brunette smiled. "It's a promise."

* * *

Scott conducted Ash and Pichu to the garage, where a red convertible waited for then.

Growing up as a kid Ash decided to become a Pokémon trainer because of the entire companionship and bonding he'd have with his partners. Now slightly older, Ash realized that whilst he still loved that aspect, his days with Pichu being the utmost prove of this, but he now had a whole new motivation too. The money and status, at Pallet he never gave money that much importance but, now, living in a crumpled apartment and knowing his mother had a small chance of surviving should the doctors performed an expensive surgery on her, he knew money was a big factor.

He wanted to live on a mansion instead of a ghetto, he wanted to have a red Maserati instead of walking around because he had no money to pay the ticket for a bus.

"Pick your jaw off the ground son." The adult joked at Ash's expression.

"Sorry." He said before shifting his glance towards a large mountain, in the horizon.

"Mt. Silver, one of the toughest areas for Pokémon trainers, you must be an elite or have a special permit to go there." Scott explained

As Scott turned on the car Ash turned to the man.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why you're helping me? I mean I understand Leaf helping because we were kinda like childhood friends, but you, we barely know each other."

"I'm interested in Pokémon battling and its expansion worldwide. I worked as a scout for the league for some time. People said I could smell talent from miles away. And you, Ash Ketchum of Vermilion City, have the biggest talent reserve I've ever seen." He said surprising Ash

He then turned the car on, and stepped in the gas paddle.

Ash felt like his life was on the line when he fought the flock of Spearow, or when he faced Fearow. Soon enough he found those previous events to be child's play compared to Scott's driving. When he first saw the guy Ash didn't give anything for him, but this changed when he was behind the wheel. Scott is a maniac. The guy's driving was so reckless that it made those The Fast and The Furious actors look like driving school teachers. In a three hour trip to Vermilion Scott almost ran over an old lady, surpassed several speed limits, and used a speed bump as a ramp to jump over another car. Worst of all, HIS CAR HAD NO FREAKING SAFETY BELTS. Scott's driving was so outrageous that Pichu, who hated pokéballs, begged Ash to rest inside his.

"We're here." Scott said nonchalantly

Ash never felt more relieved to be back at Vermilion.

"Thanks for the help." He said, diplomatically

"No problem, Ash Ketchum, I look forward seeing you at the Indigo League."

"They'll know my name." Ash said with a confident expression.

* * *

Lt. Surge sat at a comfortable chair, while reading a news article about Alolan Pokémon variations, with his faithful Raichu besides him.

He snickered as he saw a picture of Raichu's Alolan Variant.

"Who would use something like that?" he asked, getting a approving nod from his own Raichu.

Suddenly he felt something coming towards him. Using his reflexes from his time at the Air Force, he quickly caught the object, a Thunderstone. As he glanced at the stone, Ash appeared.

"Lost something?"

Surge just smirked.

"It seems you succeeded, let the training begin, and when I'm done you'll wish you were never born." He said with an evil grin.

Ash gulped.

"_What I've done?"_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Viridian City, Leaf just finished her homework. She thought back at Ash and Pichu with a smile. She wanted her relationship with her future pokémon to be like Ash and Pichu's.

Leaf then remembered the good times she had at the Pokémon Summer Camp, and decided to contact an old friend.

In another part of the world Serena Yvonne's cellphone just ringed, it was still early so she grumpily looked at the screen.

"_Who the hell texts other people at 5 AM?"_

Her question was answered as she saw Leaf's name.

Already woken, she opened the chat.

_LEAF: HEY GIRL_

_SERENA : EVER READ ABOUT A THING CALLED TIMEZONE?_

_LEAF: OOPS MY BAD_

_SERENA: I'M AWAKE, WHAT DO YOU WANT?_

_LEAF: YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHO I SAW TODAY_

_SERENA: IT'S FREAKING FIVE AM, I'M NOT IN THE MOOD TO PLAY GUESSING GAMES_

_LEAF : :( _

_LEAF: ASH KETCHUM_

Now Serena was attentive, she would always remember the kind boy who helped her when she bruised her knee at Oak's Summer Cam. To be honest as of today she still had a crush on the boy, it was silly as it happened three years ago, but at the end of the day she would always look up to him.

She then opened a drawer were she kept Ash's handkerchief. The handkerchief had a sky blue color and due to its sentimental value was one of Serena's most prized possessions.

As she held the handkerchief in one hand and the cellphone in another she smiled, despite being awaken at 5 AM, her day just became a lot better.

_SERENA: TELL ME __EVERYTHING_

**End of Chapter ****Two**

* * *

AN: In this story i decided to make Scott Leaf's uncle, whilst a huge deviation from canon it felt better than throwing a OC in the mix or arbitrarily making Scott appear. As noted in the first chapter, Ash will be very different from the canon as Delia's death clearly affected his development. He will still be the good guy, although there will be times where he will probably make some unpopular decisions and questionable choices. In my opinion this is a focus point for this story as he'll developed based on his flaws instead of virtues, whilst not being the overly benevolent Ash we see in some other fictions. Next Chapter will be the real start of Ash's journey.

Now regarding reviews, before I post the answer to the ones posted in the last chapter I'd like to once again ask for more reviews, as they validate my work. Also as you will see below, I took the liberty of posting the reviews as it would be easier for users to see both the review and the answer, should it bothered someone please contact me and I'll remove it.

* * *

**Review 1**: Warhammer4life

Hey, welcome. So look a warning given you are writing a Pokemon story. Farla, St Elmo's Fire, Talarc, Spencer841, Handle Criticism Maturely, and a few others are known bullies on this site who review only to destroy stories and promote drama.

They will push their believes down your throat, demand you redo your story to fit their wants and no, they are the super minority and hated by the fandom. They also tend to post pms publicly so responding to them is ill advised.

They start off with a disclaimer about honestly thinking it would help. It doesn't they want you to be screwed over as they complain about trival nonsense that got their panties in a twist.

They think Pokemon is slavery. That you should capitalize the way they want, fyi Pokemon names are not species names and that's been officially recongized in modern English. So yes it's correct to capitalize Pikachu for instance. Oh, and they give out false dialogue formatting (It's "Hello," She said dialogue is a seperate sentence). Spend time putting out a text block of non issues that are not going to help you. Don't get me started on Arceus.

What's worse is they all try to pass it off as them being critics in their reviews. Any review with it in the begining should be ignored if you get it.

Oh and if they say that they are being bullied. Know that they are lying as they been doing it too this fandom for years now and are just pissed that a group are working to stop it. The admins told them to knock it off.

If that's not enough on my profile is proof its utter nonsense. oh and if there is a guest reviewer titled "Take Down Hybrid" know that is's actually Handle Criticism Maturely the biggest of all of Farla's supporters and an utter troll who only doing this shit because Hybrid gave her criticism. The girls gone off the deep end and into complete insanity.

Best to remove it.

Speaking of them they had twice agreed to stop but don't. Even after being told to stop by the admins, their friends, and even random strangers. Right now they are somehow convinced that Hybrid, a woman, is a man.

If they claim they have proof don't. Its all utter nonsense land they been told by the admins to take it down.

As for the users you need to block and how, you block by heading to heading too the toolbar were you posted a story. Click on account and you should see the option to block users. The add their id numbers.

Answer: Thanks for the warning, when I started the original version of this work I indeed received a review from one of this users, pretty much with the behavior you described above, needless to say I paid it no attention. During one of my writing hiatus I wrote some works at Ao3 where users where a lot more harsher with wordings, going as far as offending me and my family, so I'm used to it and truly it doesn't bothers me. Rest assured I can differentiate constructive criticism and intrigue/trolling and I won't let anyone tell me how to write my ideas. That being said thanks once again for the warning and I hope you enjoy reading my work.

* * *

**Review 2: **Guest

Same shipping ash may dawn Serena?

**Answer:** I won't beat around the bush unlike the previous fiction, yeah the official pairing will be AshxMayxDawnxSerena, the females aren't taggged because they haven't appeared yet, but will when they make the debut. But the start of the fiction will have Ash having minor short terms relationships with some other characters.

* * *

**Review 3: **Pokemon fan

I say ash gets paired up with may dawn and vierty or Selena (female protagonist from Pokemon Sun and Moon games) I suggested these two because these two are rarely ever paired with ash and I think they can learn alot from ash dawn and may I'm referring to vierty and Selena (original name is moon but Selena is a much more suitable name for her)

**Answer:** Thanks for the review, whilst I agree that the two pairings you said aren't overly used, I envisioned this story in a way it won't make much sense to add them without making things unrealistic. For instance, I won't write about Ash going to Aloha, since the focus will be mainly in Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. As for May and Dawn, yes they will be paired with Ash but will only feature mainly on their own timelines. Although I may add a few scenes relating them to Ash earlier, like the one with Serena this chapter.

* * *

This concludes the review section, please leave a review, it truly means a lot to me, and I'll do my best to answer it.


	3. The first step

I'm back with yet another chapter of the rewriting. This one was pretty much straightforward and needed few changes and had no real change in plot. This isn't going to be a trend as the next chapter will have different interactions and some overall tweaks in some of the battle scenes, besides developing Ash's mindset further than I did in the original. Still, I'd highly recommend giving this chapter a read as some of the facts stated here will be important moving on.

* * *

_"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."_ \- Lao Tzu

* * *

**Chapter Three - The first step**

The sunlight slowly made his way through Ash's room. Sometime after his mother's death he decided that he should redecorate the room, adding his own touch and in an attempt to move on. Because of his low budget he couldn't do anything great, also it wouldn't make much sense as he would soon leave in a journey. The first thing he did was to paint the once white walls to blue, it boded well with one of his companions and it wouldn't be nearly as dirt. He then glued some pokéball posters and a poster of the Mt. Silver. The enormous mountain really impressed him when he visited Vermilion two years ago, Scott's words about the wilderness of the place and its strong pokémon still lingered at Ash's head, so he made a personal goal to once visit the place personally. Besides that Ash also added a small bed for his first and best friend, Pichu, although the rodent usually would sleep in the same bed as him. Finally some of Ash's other belongings like a small sized TV and a computer were also present at the room.

As the sun crept inside, the sleeping form at the bed slowly woke up. He didn't grumble nor attempted to catch more sleep. Instead he jumped out of the bed pretty eagerly, dragging out his friend alongside during the process. Ash paid no mind to Pichu's curses, instead he smiled on his way to the shower.

"_Today's the day."_

After a quick shower, Ash made his way back to his room, where he looked at his reflection t the mirror and reminisced about the changes from four years ago.

Gone was the boy silhouette, replaced by a young man body frame despite being only fourteen. His arms showed a little bit of muscle, the perfect amount, as he was still growing , yet his muscle mass was still definite and ripped. His legs were even more muscular than his arms, but not surpassing the point of being unnatural. However his abs and back were the things that stood out the most. Several girls that Ash met during those four years were overly attracted by his six pack and muscled back. His time working at the docks and as Surge's aide paid well physically.

His facial features were more defined too, although they would clearly resemble his past self. Brown colored eyes and two "Zs" marks underneath his eyes made his face recognizable. The biggest difference was his haircut, as Lt. Surge was training him, he was expected to keep his hair short and trimmed, as in the military. Ash didn't oppose to that, adopting a slightly longer version of Surge's haircut, although he planned to grow his hair as he left on his journey.

He then opened his wardrobe. His clothing choices were usually conservative, nothing too flashy. He opted to wear olive colored boots, black cargo pants and a plain white t-shirt. He also wore an olive green bomber jacket that he usually kept open, revealing the white t-shirt underneath it. He then opened a drawer where he picked the final two items he needed to get out. The first item was a leather belt, with six clips designed to have pokéballs attached to. Out of the six spaces, two of them were filled. He also took a red cloth that he used as a wristband, mainly because he really liked red.

However Ash's most prized item was the necklace that he made out of his late mother's charm. The necklace consisted of a light silver chain and a four pointed, light blue star shaped pendant. Two small green orbs were place into opposite directions of the star core, one being placed near the junction of the pendant with the necklace whilst another stood in the opposite direction, from where a darker blue knot emerged.

This was one of the few things that would always remind him of his mother and whenever Ash felt down he would look at the necklace for assurance, as if his mother's soul was still with him.

He then untucked the second pokéball from his belt and called forth his second friend.

"Squirtle." The pokémon said happily.

Squirtle is a small, bipedal Pokémon that resembling a turtle. His skin is light blue colored and his shell is bicolored, the belly part being light, yellow, paler than Pichu's fur and the back part being brown. The division between the shell's parts is white. His face, fully blue as the rest of his skin, has a hooked lip, vaguely resembling a primitive beak and large, burgundy eyes with black pupils.

* * *

_Flashback – a year ago_

_Ash was finishing his maintenance duty at the Vermilion Gym, observed by Pichu when he spotted Officer Jenny at the gates._

"_Hello, young man, can I speak with Surge please?"_

"_Yes, follow me."_

_Ash then guided Jenny through the gym, until they stopped at the training grounds where Surge was drilling his Raichu in the use of the Mega Punch._

"_Officer." Surge said, without taking his eyes of Raichu._

"_Lieutenant." She replied_

"_What brings you here?"_

"_We came to ask the gym's help with a problem."_

_Surge then glanced at Jenny._

"_What kind of problem?"_

"_There's a band of stray Squirtle attacking travelers and pulling pranks at Route 11, so we're requesting your Gym's electrical pokémon assistance at subduing them."_

_Surge looked in deep thought for a minute before nodding._

"_We'll help."_

_Jenny beamed._

"_Great, I'll take you there."_

"_I guess you misunderstood me officer." Surge said with a smirk. "I said that the gym will help, not me."_

_He then turned to Ash._

"_Private, help the officer."_

_Ash then made a salute._

"_Sir, yes sir."_

"_Isn't he a bit too young?" Jenny asked still unsure about Ash's help_

"_He is, but we don't have anyone else to spare." He said causing Ash to deadpan._

"_A bit of compliment would be nice for a change." He thought_

"_Okay, follow me." Jenny said glancing at Ash and Pichu._

_As Jenny was driving him towards Route 11, Ash turned to the police officer._

"_You said that they were stray pokémon, what happened to their trainers?"_

"_Most of them released them."_

"_Why?"_

"_They weren't powerful enough to face Surge."_

_This caused anger to boil inside Ash, if you couldn't beat a gym leader it's not your pokémon's fault, it's all on you._

"_What will happen to them?"_

"_We probably will offer them to Safari Zones around the country."_

"_But then you'll separate then?"_

"_I'm afraid so, Safari Zones usually want lots of different species but they usually take only one for species."_

_Ash said nothing more during the rest of the trip._

_Route 11 is one of Kanto's largest routes by size, however wasn't that crowded as people were scared away of Squirtle's acts. The route itself consisted of a large road with several grassy meadows around it. _

"_We're here." Jenny said._

"_Officer, if you want to I can find my way back to Vermilion, I don't know how long this will last, so you can go back to the city."_

"_Really? This would be great, just make sure you report at the police station when you're done."_

"_Don't worry I will."_

_As Jenny left, Ash let out a sigh of relief._

"_Without her around things will be easier." He thought to himself. _

_He then looked around, feeling like he was being watched._

_He turned to a bush._

"_Come out, now. I have no time for playing."_

_In a clue five Squirtle left the bush. Four of which wore aviator style sunglasses with blue lenses, whilst the apparently leader, as he was slightly bigger and wore a different sunglass, this resembling cat-eye frame with black lenses._

"_I want to talk with you." He said, glancing at the leader, who smirked before firing an Water Gun at Ash's face._

_Ash slowly got up, wiped his face clean and glared at the leader._

"_Not your smartest idea, pal."_

_The other four Squirtle then charged at Pichu. _

"_Double Team." Ash commanded._

_Quickly Pichu multiplied, confusing the Squirtle, who tackled the illusions._

"_Good job."_

_Once again the Squirtle charged at Pichu._

"_Use Double Team to evade, then sneak behind them."_

_Pichu did as Ash asked, managing to appear behind the Squirtle band just as the last illusion was dispelled._

"_Electroweb." Ash ordered with a smirk._

_The group tried to evade the attack, but as the web suddenly expanded, they found themselves being trapped to the ground._

"_Amazing, Pichu. Just amazing." Ash complimented, getting a smirk from Pichu._

_The leader quickly stepped in, placing himself between Pichu and his trapped fellow Squirtle._

"_Like I said I just want to talk." Ash said to the leader._

_The leader once again fired a water gun at Ash with an angry expression. _

_The trainer, who already expected this, swiftly dodged the attack by sidestepping. _

"_The same trick won't work twice." He said before turning to Pichu._

"_Quick attack."_

_Pichu then got in all fours attacking Squirtle with great speed. The turtle tucked his head at its shell, bracing for the hit. Ash's rodent pokémon expected to cause some damage with his attack, instead when he connected the hit to the turtle's shell it didn't moved a single bit. Pichu's surprised expression soon changed to a pained one when Squirtle rammed his head at him with great power, propelling him backwards._

"_Pichu, are you okay?" Ash asked concernedly_

_Pichu just groaned before getting up, glaring at Squirtle._

"_Let's change strategies. Quick attack once again."_

"_Pi?" Pichu asked confusedly._

"_I need you to trust me, please." Ash said_

_Pichu just nodded, before charging at Squirtle with a Quick Attack once again._

_Just a few seconds until the attack landed Ash's voice was once again heard._

"_Change to Nuzzle, now." _

_Pichu then charged his cheek pouches with electricity, and nuzzled at Squirtle's head, paralyzing him._

_As Squirtle struggled to move because of the paralysis, Ash barked another command._

"_Take advantage. Use Electroweb to trap him."_

_Pichu quickly shot the attack, restraining Squirtle._

"_Great job Pichu." Ash said, gently scratching Pichu's ears, who cooed in response._

_The raven haired boy then turned to the turtle pokémon._

"_You're their leader right?"_

_Squirtle tried to move but the paralysis and the web successfully restrained him, so he nodded._

"_I'm going to give you two choices. Either: I can take you to back to the police station, and your squad will be separated because Jenny wants to send you to different Safari Zones, or I can release your squad if you promise me that you won't pull any more pranks or attack travelers. So, what you will do?" Ash asked as Pichu removed the Electroweb from the gang._

_Squirtle looked straight at Ash's eyes, nodding. He then took off his sunglasses and gave them to Ash as he and the squad left the scene._

_Jenny wasn't happy at first, but the Squirtle Squad kept their promise and there weren't any more attacks._

_Six months later, things changed once again, a great fire occurred at the Route 11 and the Squirtle Squad helped the firefighters to put it off. Their performance was so good that they were offered a permanent place at the firefighters, which all the Squirtle agreed._

_All but the leader, who decided to ask to join Ash's team. Surge initially frowned at him having a water type as he expected his gym's trainers to only use electric types, but Ash managed to convince Surge when he mentioned the energy water and electric pokémon had together. The truth was that whilst weak against electric attacks, should used smartly, water were the perfect complementary partners for electric pokémon as they could power their attacks with water and cover their only weakness, the feared ground types._

* * *

Ash then took out a bag with a special water type pokémon meal he prepared to Squirtle, putting it into a bowl, alongside Pichu's meal. Whilst not fond of cooking Ash had lots of practical experience, he had to cook to himself since he was ten, so he obviously learnt a thing or two.

His diet usually consisted of beans and rice alongside meat. However he often relied on canned food. Ash respected lots of people in his life. Surge, his late mother, Professor Oak, but whoever created canned food would easily sit atop this list. The thing about canned food is that there was no time spent in preparing it, simple open and eats, and Ash hated to lose time. It almost had no taste but should you imagine harder enough it would taste like liberty, extremely cheap liberty but liberty nonetheless.

Pokémon food cooking picked his interest when he witnessed Surge feeding his Raichu with a special electric type meal. The gym leader then offered to give some of it to Pichu, who enjoyed the meal greatly. In order to please Pichu, the trainer began to read several pokémon cooking books, and after several attempts he could give Pichu a healthy, tasty meal.

After Squirtle joined in he learnt the hard way that different pokémon had different tastes as Squirtle attacked him with a Water Gun after tasting Pichu's meal.

Usually Ash would search on the internet for cooking tips, making the healthy part of the meal, before flavoring each of his pokémon's meals individually. Pichu had an enormous, platonic, love for ketchup, whilst Squirtle enjoyed fish.

As Ash's pokémon voraciously devoured the food the boy made his own breakfast, a basic cereal and milk combo, and sat at the table, looking at his Pokémon intently.

"Today is the day, the start of our dream." Ash said, getting the attention of Squirtle and Pichu.

"Everything we did so far led us up to this. Pichu worked hard, Squirtle worked hard, I worked hard. Let's go out there and conquer the league." Ash said emotionally, getting cheers from his Pokémon.

* * *

As soon as he left his building Ash looked around to see the imposing figure of Lt. Surge standing beside his Jeep.

"Lieutenant." Ash said, making a military salute.

"Private." Surge replied with a smirk.

"May I ask what you're doing here sir?"

"Cut the formalities Ketchum, you know I'm not fond of them, call me Surge."

"Yes, sir, I mean Surge."

"To answer your question, I came to give Vermilion's number one hotshot trainer a ride. Today's the day right?"

"Yes."

"Hop in." Surge said motioning to his Jeep.

Despite not being so literate about car models, Ash quickly recognized the model as dark green a Jeep Wrangler.

Ash did as asked hoping into the backseat whilst Surge took on the wheel.

"You need to go to the League Headquarters, right?"

"Yes."

"To Indigo Plateau we go." Surge said turning the engine on.

As the Jeep cruised through the roads in his way to

The Indigo Plateau, Ash looked at Surge, reminiscing about his long four years training program under him.

When Ash asked to work under a gym leader that had a military background, the raven haired boy knew he should expect some military terminology.

What he didn't expected is that by working under Surge he would also be receiving exhausting military training that didn't had anything to do with Pokémon. When he would ask Surge what's the point of doing those kinds of exercises, he would say: "It all clicks in the end."

Four years gone by and to Ash it never clicked.

* * *

_Ash yielded a military riffle, looking at faraway targets at the shooting range._

"_Shoot on my mark." Was the naturally loud voice of Surge_

"_Lieutenant, may I ask why we're doing this?"_

"_Don't worry private, it all clicks in the end. Shoot NOW." He yelled_

* * *

_Ash used a pincer to twist the wires of a decoy bomb that Surge has set up. The traditional cut the red wire line didn't worked like in the movies_

"_Lieutenant, may I ask why I'm doing this?"_

"_Don't worry private, it all clicks in the end." He said as Ash lost control of the pincer for a second causing the bomb to detonate._

_Thankfully it wasn't a real bomb, but a practice one, that exploded releasing paint at Ash's face._

"_God, I hate this job." Ash thought_

* * *

_Ash and Pichu engaged Surge and Raichu at a pushup match._

_The score: Surge 595 x 40 Ash and Raichu 248 x 13 Pichu._

_To make things even more humiliating for the youngster and his Pokémon, both Surge and Raichu's pushups were one-handed. _

"_Lieutenant, may I ask why we're doing this?"_

"_Don't worry private, it all clicks in the end. Now push it."_

* * *

_Ash, standing at 5'1" feet (155 centimeters), guarded Surge, __7'4" feet (224 centimeters) in a game of one-on-one basketball._

_As he was being pushed aside by Surge's highly muscular frame around the hoop, Ash spoke to his teacher._

"_Lieutenant, may I ask why we're doing this?"_

"_Don't worry private, it all clicks in the end." he said before throwing a 360 two handed posterizing throwdown, that would put Michael Jordan to shame, over Ash who stood unmoving on the ground._

"_Eight gym leaders, to learn from and I picked the craziest of them." Ash thought._

* * *

Despite Surge's proven lack of common sense, displayed several times, Ash learnt a great deal from the man; both in pokémon battling and in life as a whole. Ash considered his life story to be pretty sad, losing his mother and only family at age of ten and having to pick up the pieces had been rough. But the young boy couldn't imagine how fighting a war was like, and worst of all witnessing your best friend dying at that war... pretty heavy stuff.

Ash soon learnt that men like Surge built barriers around themselves, the gym leader wasn't anti-social or depressive, but made clear that he liked to be alone. Ash considered Surge as a friend, but deep down inside he knew that Surge mostly likely only regarded him as acquaintance.

Regarding battling styles they also diverged. Ash observed Surge take on several challengers during his two year apprenticeship, and quickly noted that Surge straight out overpowered the opponents with relative ease.

He would surprise the opposition by using uncommon, high powered physical attacks, like Mega Punch as an opposition to electric's type more common special attack based approach. His Pokémon were extremely bulky and all rounded and most of times Surge lost it was mostly because he had a deep mismatch problem or because the opponent's pokémon used status ailments. What made Surge special was the unconventional combination of the natural quickness that an electric type possesses with bulk, making Surge's pokémon real tanks, fast overpowered tanks.

Ash however decided to follow a different path than Surge. He had everything to become a sole electric type user, but even before he got Squirtle he had made his mind that he would instead uses various types. Ash had several reasons for that. He wanted to be the very best, so it meant knowing how to properly battle different types of pokémon, opponents and strategies with his own. Being masterful with a type of pokémon was a hard task, but to be a real, complete, master… you needed more. If Ash settled for only electric types he wouldn't broaden his horizons, and this could be the differential of winning a championship or ending up as a runner up.

Ash decided however to always focus on speed. He soon realized that whoever was quicker could react faster and exploit the opponent's flaws more successfully. Thinking back at his first fight at Viridian Forest against Fearow and the flock of Spearow, and more recently against the Squirtle Squad, speed was the biggest differential. Whoever had the most speed controlled the pace of the battle, and by controlling the pace you would put the opponent in the spots you know better, thus making the battle a lot easier.

Of course the boy knew he still needed to work on other stats, but right now speed was his flagship. Ash's ever faithful Pichu was the embodiment of this theory. Being noted for having one of the weakest defenses of all pokémon, the rodent showed that it doesn't matter how seemingly weak a pokémon was if you couldn't land a hit on him.

"We're here." Surge said, bringing Ash out of his musings.

* * *

"Wow." Was all Ash could say as he looked at the state of art building that hosted the Pokémon League Headquarters.

The building was an imposing skyscraper, with at least 40 floors. The darkened glass windows that covered the entire building added a mysterious air to the construction, whilst the prism shape of the complex showed modernism. However what made Ash wordless were the three live sized golden statues which adorned the entrance foyer, representing the legendary bird trio from Kanto: Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno.

"Pick your jaw off the ground, private." Surge joked

As the duo made his way to the lobby of the building, they were greeted by a secretary.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked politely

"I'm here to acquire a Trainer's License." Ash said

"And I'd like to officially recommend him as a trainer." Surge added

"Okay, just give me a second." She said as she typed at her computer. "What's your name?" she asked

"Ash Ketchum."

"Age."

"14."

"Birthplace?"

"Pallet Town."

"Hometown?"

"Vermilion City."

"Okay, with the discounts the license will cost 135,000 PokéDollars."

"I'm sorry, you said discounts?" Ash asked surprised, he believed he would have to pay at least 225,000 PokéDollars for the license.

"Yes, our new regulation allows a trainer to have up to a 90% discount at the purchase of the license if he received indications from a Gym Leader, Pokémon Professor or Elite Four. The first indication, gives the person a 50% discount, after that each other indication adds another 10% to the discount, up to 90%." The secretary explained

"The original license was priced at 450,000 PokéDollars, meaning that I had a 70% discount, three indications, I know Surge here was the one of those. Can you inform me of the other two?" Ash asked politely.

"Of course, let's see. The other two indications came from Professor Oak and Giovanni, Viridian City Gym Leader."

Ash seemed deep in thought.

"_Professor Oak is somewhat predictable. He was friends with my mother and I was closer to Gary… but this Giovanni guy, never heard of him, but he surely heard of me…"_

"Okay, 135K, right?" Ash asked getting a nod from the secretary.

"I'll pay in cash." Ash said, revealing a suitcase with money.

"Great." The secretary beamed. "I'll print your card."

After some minutes the secretary came back with a red rectangular card, handing it to Ash.

The trainer looked at the card approvingly. It displayed several types of information, such as date of birth, city, nationality, etc. It had an Id sized photo of Ash and the Pokémon League Seal.

"Congratulations on becoming a Pokémon trainer, be sure to also log in to the online services, the instructions are on this handbook." She said, handing him a small blue book.

Ash smiled.

"_Finally I'm a Pokémon trainer."_

* * *

A few minutes later, Surge spoke with Ash outside of the building.

"Private, where you're going next? If you take Route 22, you can reach Viridian and head north towards Pewter City, if you're luck you'll find some of those trainers from Pallet to measure your skills."

"Actually, I want to go back to Vermilion first."

This caused Surge to raise an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you're cocky enough to think that you have a shot on defeating me."

"No, it's not that. I want to fight the Cerulean City Gym first and Vermilion happens to be the one of the closest cities."

"You're right, but why Cerulean?"

"Pichu watched battles featuring electric types for two years, Squirtle however never saw another water type pokémon battle. I feel like I should give him the chance to fight other strong water types to gain experience."

"You may be right, hop in then, I'm heading back to Vermilion anyway."

"Thanks."

The way back to Vermilion was quite uneventful, as Surge drove in silence and Ash said nothing, he knew for an instance that the gym leader wasn't fond of small talk, so he kept quiet.

Midway through the trip Ash looked at his cellphone, it seemed like he received three messages. The first one was from Scott.

_SCOTT: ASH, A BIRD TOLD ME THAT YOU GOT YOUR TRAINER LICENSE. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN ACTION AT THE INDIGO LEAGUE. IF YOU DO WELL ENOUGH GOOD THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU_

Ash replied Scott with the same phrase he had told him two years ago, and that became a sort of personal mantra of his.

_ASH: THEY'LL KNOW MY NAME._

The second message was from Leaf.

_LEAF: HEY ASH, MY UNCLE GAVE ME YOUR PHONE NUMBER. I GOT MY POKÉMON A WEEK AGO, SO WE'RE BOTH TRAINERS NOW._

_LEAF: I DIDN'T FORGET THE PROMISE FROM TWO YEARS AGO, AND I HOPE YOU DIDN'T TOO. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN PERSON._

_ASH: I DON'T FORGET MY PROMISES, DON'T WORRY. I'M LEAVING FROM VERMILION TO CERULEAN CITY, SO IF YOU'RE NEARBY TEXT ME._

Finally the third message greatly surprised Ash, it was from Professor Oak.

_PROFESSOR OAK: ASH, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER ME, MY NAME IS SAMUEL OAK AND I WAS YOUR NEIGHBOOR IN PALLET TOWN._

_PROFESSOR OAK: I HAVE TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT SOME IMPORTANT THINGS, BUT I'M AFRAID I NEED TO DO SO PERSONALLY. SO PLEASE VISIT MY LAB WHEN YOU'RE AT PALLET._

Ash was truly curious now, and somewhat regretted his decision to go to Vermilion, should he stayed at the League HQ, he would have a quick way towards Pallet. It was already done, so his visit to the professor would've to wait until he challenged the Viridian or the Cinnabar Gym.

_ASH: I'M A BIT OFF WAY NOW, BUT WHEN I CHALLENGE THE VIRIDIAN OR THE CINNABAR GYM I'LL MAKE SURE TO VISIT YOU. IT WILL BE NICE TO VISIT PALLET ONCE AGAIN._

As soon as he replied the Pokémon Professor, he heard Surge's voice.

"We're here."

* * *

Ash quickly parted way with Surge, promising to visit soon for his gym battle, and decided to visit the Pokémart to buy some pokéballs. He quickly made his way downtown where the Pokémart was located. The 70% discount for the trainer's license was very helpful, as Ash expected to only receive 50%. So he decided to use the surplus 90,000 PokéDollars to buy Pokéballs.

"Welcome, how may I help you?" the clerk asked

"I'd like to buy some Pokéballs."

"Great, we have several models for purchase. The Poké ball is 20000 PD's, Great ball is 60000 PD's, Quick, Nest and Dusk Balls are sold for 100000 PD's and the Ultra ball is sold for 120000 PD's. What you will choose?"

Ash seemed in deep thought, he only knew the mechanics of the Poké, Great and Ultra balls, so the Quick, Nest and Dusk balls were out of question for him.

He had no money to buy an Ultra ball. He could buy a Great Ball and a Pokéball, or he could go spread mode and buy four Pokéballs.

Thinking back at his captures, Ash remembered that both Pichu and Squirtle had chosen to go to him, not resisting the capture at all, so the rate wouldn't matter. He liked how he got together with those two, so he opted for the last option.

"I'll take four Poké balls."

He turned to Pichu, who faithfully clinged to his shoulder.

"Now we're ready. Cerulean City, here we go." He said getting an approving cry from Pichu.

"Still I feel like I forgot something important."

"OH MY GOD! THIS DRESS IS SO CUTE." Came the voice of a teenage girl who saw a dress at a nearby shop.

Ash cringed at the girl high pitched yell, before shivering in fear.

"God, I hate shopping."

Suddenly it clicked.

"_Shopping…clothes." _He thought

"Damn I forgot to pack my clothes." Ash said facepalming

The now registered trainer quickly got back to his apartment. He packed some socks, three spare t-shirts, a swimming trunk, a pair of pants and two shorts. He then picked the remaining item his underwear. Then his mother's last words in her deathbed came back to him in a flash.

"_Ash dear, be happy, this all I ask you. Mommy loves you… and don't forget to change your underwear."_

Ash then took a deep breath and closed his eyes to prevent tears from falling. After a minute he recomposed himself.

"_Don't worry mom, whenever you are, I'll make you proud."_

He then gave his apartment a final look, before finally leaving for his journey.

* * *

Route 6 was the road between Vermilion and Saffron. Ash intended to go to Cerulean, whose location is situated north of Saffron, so he obviously needed to get there first.

The route itself consisted of a soft ground road surrounded by green, grassy meadows and a small lake in the middle. The whole scenery was adorned by trees, making the trip very pleasant.

Much to the trainer's surprise there weren't any trainers, a fact that caused Ash to frown. He wanted to give his Pokémon, especially Squirtle battle experience.

He then heard the sound of rustling grass, and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Pichu, standby for battle." He whispered getting a nod from the rodent.

Soon enough a white blur jumped towards Ash and Pichu.

"Meowth." The cat said.

Meowth was bipedal catlike pokémon with white fur. His feline features included long nails and long whiskers. Atop his head a amulet coin was wore as a crown of sorts.

"I assume you want to challenge me." Ash said, getting a nod from the feline

"Go Pichu." Ash said, as Pichu hopped off his shoulder and stood in front of Meowth.

The feline charged at Pichu, unleashing a Fury Swipes attack.

"Take the hit." Ash ordered, hoping to make Pichu's Static ability activate from the several hits.

What Ash didn't expect was that Meowth was a heavy hitter, so the swipes caused serious damage to Pichu.

"Pichu, are you okay?"

Pichu, pretty beaten, winced.

"P-pi."

However, the rodent didn't wanted to give up.

"_This Fury Swipes was something special. Better not leave any other openings."_

Glancing at the smirking Meowth, Ash noticed that a small electric current ran through his skin.

"_Static worked at least." _

"Let's take the offensive, Pichu."

"Fire an Electroweb at him."

The attack connected, restraining Meowth's movements even more.

"Now he can't attack you. Keep weakening him with several Thundershocks."

Slowly Meowth's movements were restrained by the sheer electric current provided by Static, Electroweb and the consecutive Thundershocks.

"Great job Pichu. Come back to rest." Ash said, getting a nod from Pichu.

He then glanced at Meowth, who still struggled to move.

"Now or never." Ash said, taking an empty pokéball from his pocket.

"Pokéball: Go."

The capsule sucked the Meowth in.

One shake

Two shakes

Three shakes

PING!

Capture successful.

* * *

After capturing Meowth, Ash's journey to Saffron was quite uneventful. Soon enough he reached the gates of the city and was marveled by the sight.

The biggest city and capital of the country was a sight to marvel. Vibrant buildings, towering skyscrapers, and millions of people walking through the streets everyday.

Vermilion was far from being a small city. Its connection with Saffron made his port the most important in the entire region. Naturally, it also had a well-developed commerce and had a big population, being the fourth largest in Kanto, losing to Saffron, Celadon and Viridian.

However after seeing the capital Ash knew Vermilion when compared to Saffron was like a Magikarp compared to a Gyarados.

Saffron has a Psychic type gym, however Ash didn't felt like neither his team nor himself were ready for the challenge, but he made sure to look around and familiarize himself with the streets of the city as he would probably have to go back there sometime.

Glancing at the sky and the city lights Ash realized it was already late, so he quickly checked in at the Pokémon Center, leaving Pichu and Meowth, both still hurt from the early battle under the care of Nurse Joy before drifting off to sleep. It was just the first day of a years long journey, but Ash felt like he started with the right foot.

**End of Chapter Three**

* * *

As I said before, just a interlude of sorts as next chapter will have Ash's first battles, some run ins with some of the anime's characters, and will conclude with his first official match at Cerulean. That being said I think next update will be up on Wednesday or Thursday, as I'm having to rewrite some of the scenes and add some meaningful stuff. For those who until now thought this was only being a rewrite with changed ages and fixed grammatical errors, fasten your seat belts, because Chapter 4 perhaps will be the real start of the story. Before I officially sign out, here are the answers to the reviews.

* * *

**UnsanMusho**: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the 'merge' with the real world, to me it brings a lot more possibilities and can be explored further, also it can get people to relate more often. As for the pairing, I'd say I'll try to make this different from other stories which used this particular set, so please keep reading and reviewing, it means a lot for me.

**Guest** : Thanks for the review, no unlike the original story Ash won't make out with every girl who crosses his patch, back when I wrote the first version I wanted to get out there and clearly state that my story Ash was different from the anime, but looking back I admit it went overboard real quick. Still I'll try to find a middle ground of sorts, since Ash is now fourteen instead of twelve I think I'll be able to develop something better. But if the story goes as I originally planned Ash will only meet May when he's sixteen, so it'll be a bit unnatural for him to stay alone for those two years. Summing up, there will be some secondary relationships with Ash, but I'll make them more meaningful than I did in the original.

Now answering your second question... to me the rivalry concept was always a bit of vague, so I didn't thought the story having a main rival for Ash. At the moment I can see two characters fitting into that role, Gary and Damian (Charmander's original trainer), although the nature of their relationship will be vastly different than canon. I hope I answered to the best of my capabilities and I hope that you 'll continue enjoying the story.

**ultimateCCC**: I'm glad you liked Ash having Pichu instead of Pikachu, as for you question regarding Team Rocket... they will actually appear next chapter, and Chapter five too, overall they will act mostly like in the games, working towards a definite goal, and not showing off every single chapter to attempt to poach Pikachu (or in this case Pichu), in the future I envision Team Rocket playing a bigger role in Hoenn and Sinnoh, interacting with those regions teams, but unfortunately this will take some time. I won't enter much in detail about this because it would be spoiling the story, but I do hope that you stick around and read when it comes to that time.

* * *

Guys, I think I've already blabbered a lot about this, but please keep sending review, it means the world to me, and is always a good way to get some information beforehand.


	4. Ketchum's Trident

Man, I was in a good rhythm, this rewrite was extremely difficult as I finally made some meaningful changes on the story and expanded the battle scenes as few of the previous review pointed (and now I see that they were indeed correct) that those battles were extremely short and unreasonably so. Also this chapter is very important, so if you already read the first version I'd highly suggest you to read this new anyways as Ash's personality is developed a lot further than the original and some of the dialogues were modified. Also towards the end of the chapter Ash will act a bit more womanizing, but it was a planned move, which won't happen that often. My meaningless speech being over, please enjoy Chapter 4 of Zero to Hero – Reload.

* * *

_"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."_ \- Winston Churchill

* * *

**Chapter Four - Ketchum's Trident**

After eating breakfast early in the morning, Ash departed Saffron with a promise of coming back soon. Now he needed to reach Cerulean City, and that meant he has to go through Route 5.

This particular route had a more country landscape, a stark contrast to Saffron's vibrant, fully urbanized landscape.

Since it was still very early in the morning there weren't any passersby. The trainer walked with a steady pace, if he didn't had to deal with any problems, he would be at Cerulean at noon. Several hours went through as Ash occasionally stopped to battle some of the wild pokémon with his newly acquired Meowth.

After defeating yet another Bellsprout, Ash resumed his walk when he glanced at a large building. Getting closer he noticed that it was a Trainer's School. Ash wasn't a fan. He had to study some basic stuff and when really interested about a subject he would do some deep digging to find more information. For instance, Ash got intrigued by Meowth's Fury Swipes power yesterday and while waiting for sleep to come he read several magazines. He discovered that the increase in power came from Meowth's ability: Technician.

Technician boosted the power of the so called weak moves by a large margin, usually making them even more dangerous than the particularly powerful moves. A good example is using Bite instead of Crunch. Crunch naturally has higher base power, but a Technician boosted Bite will be stronger if used by Meowth.

Ash had already found great use in this ability as he was able to exploit the better effects of the 'weak' moves, such as Bite's flinching or Fury Swipes multiple hits without having a drop in power.

What Ash didn't liked at all was the attitude of those prep school kids, they usually would feel like the world spun around themselves, besides looking down at people who weren't as rich as them. Deep down inside he knew he was probably being judgmental about a whole clique whilst being based off on a preconception, it was kind of wrong but he wasn't ready to get over it already.

Ash could say he was surprised when one male student approached him in an overly polite way, asking for a battle.

"Umm, excuse me sir, could you please battle against my pokémon." The student asked. He has well-kept brown hair, and wore a blue blazer, part of the school's uniform.

"_He asked politely." _Ash thought before nodding.

Soon a small group of students assembled, while one of them offered to act as a referee.

"This will be a one-on-one pokémon battle between Ash Ketchum from Vermilion City and Joe Juno from Saffron. As Joe is the challenger he's the first to send out his pokémon."

"Go Weepinbell."

"Bell." The pokémon cried

Weepinbell has a yellow, bell-shaped body with a single green leaf on either side. It uses these razor-sharp leaves to slice up prey. It has a wide, gaping mouth with pink lips. Above Weepinbell's circular eyes is a pattern of three small green spots and a small hook-shaped stem.

Ash seemed in thought for a moment.

"_I've already used Meowth to defeat several trainers already, so I'll go with Squirtle, he needs to learn how to fight pokémon that have a type advantage over him."_

"Go Squirtle."

"Squirtle." The turtle pokémon said eagerly.

A few snickers were heard as the students pocked Ash's apparent lack of knowledge.

"Squirtle, use Bite."

The turtle rushed towards Weepinbell, who moved too slowly to even react, biting him hard, fainting it on the process.

Some of the students were wordless whilst other made fun of Joe. Ash himself was surprised, he trained Squirtle well, even Surge admitted that, but against a evolved Pokémon… he wasn't one to disrespect opponents, but deep down inside this battle was won more on Weepibell's flawed training rather than Squirtle's merit.

"Winner is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." The referee said.

Ash recalled Squirtle, thanking him for his effort, whilst Joe did the same with Weepinbell.

The two trainers met at the center of the ring.

"Build Weepinbell's defenses and speed instead of focusing in attack, grass Pokémon cause lots of hazardous damage with Leech Seed and Poisonpowder, also don't let other students get under your skin."

Ash advised, offering his hand in a handshake.

"Thanks.' The boy said, shaking hands

"Pathetic." Came a female voice

"_Oh great, another smug rich girl. Just what I needed." _Ash thought in dismay.

However when he turned around to see who spoke he admitted that he was impressed.

Milky white skin, silky shiny brown hair cascading through her back. Also a well-developed body for her age. Ash had to give it up, the girl was hot.

"Students like you make our school look bad. How could you lose to someone that decided to give you type advantage?" the girl asked

"Sorry, Giselle…"

Ash heard Giselle scold Joe with a sympathetic look. He didn't know why he said something at all, maybe male comradery.

"Unless you defeated me you can't say anything." He said matter of factly, earning a glare from the girl.

"Are you challenging me?"

"Yes and to keep things fair I'll also give you the type advantage." Ash said smugly.

* * *

"This will be a two on two battle between Ash Ketchum of Vermilion City and Giselle Seiyo from Saffron City. Trainers send out your pokémon." Joe said, acting as a referee.

"Go, Graveler."

Graveler is a living, bipedal boulder. It has a rocky crest about its small eyes. It has four arms, each with a three-fingered hand.

"Meowth, I chose you."

"Graveler, use rollout."

The boulder pokémon started to roll around, building momentum.

"Fake out." Ash commanded

Meowth quickly closed out space, getting near Graveler, clasping his hands together, creating a shockwave of sorts that stopped the movement and sent Graveler backwards and stopping his rolling motion.

"Don't give up, Rollout once again." Graveler once again assumed rolling form, heading towards Meowth.

"Dodge it and use screech."

Meowth did as asked, easily avoiding the strike and unleashing a loud screech, making Graveler stop the attack to hold his ears in pain.

"Now he's open, Screech once again."

Meowth took advantage of the opening and screeched once again, making Graveler growl in anger and pain.

"Graveler, use Rock Throw."

The bipedal rock pokémon suddenly recovered, grabbing a rock from the battlefield and hurled it towards the feline normal type.

"Meowth, focus now, when the rock gets close enough use it as a launching pad and jump towards Graveler."

The cat nodded, flexing his knees and using his superior speed to jump onto the rock and then propel himself towards the opponent.

"Now, use Bite, full speed ahead." Ash commanded

"No you don't, Protect." Giselle replied.

The rock type crossed his arms in a protective manner, creating a blue protective shield covering him in a small orb pattern.

"Meowth, use your claws to walk into the shield surface and get behind him."

The cat pokémon used his impressive reflexes in time, adjusting his position in mid-air and suing his paws to step into the shield and jump into Graveler's back whilst the shield dissolved in the air.

"Amazing Meowth, now finish him with Fury Swipes."

The feline grinned, using his prolonged sharp claws to slash viciously at the rock type's back, who roared in pain before fainting.

"Impossible, this attack was supposed to be not much effective against Graveler." Giselle muttered, recalling his pokémon.

"Battles involve much more than just type matchups, status changes, abilities and locational awareness play a large part too." Ash said with a smirk.

Giselle knew the trainer was right, he dropped Graveler's defenses whilst stopping their attack momentum and used several means to give Meowth a chance to land a decisive strike. Fury Swipes multiple strikes canceled Graveler's Sturdy ability, whilst probably being powered by Meowth's own Technician. _"He's very good."_ She thought before scowling, she was the best student in the class, she needed to win.

"It doesn't matter, go Cubone."

Cubone is a small, bipedal Pokémon with a golden brown hide that covers most of its body, including both dorsal spikes. Its belly is a very light brown. Two small claws, one on each hand, serve as its thumbs, and one large nail on each foot make up its toes. On its head, Cubone wears a skull as a helmet.

"Impressive Pokémon you got there." Ash complimented, causing Giselle to blush at the praise.

He then turned to Meowth.

"You did well, rest."

After recalling Meowth he turned to Pichu, who stood by his side.

"Up for a fight pal?" the trainer asked, getting an enthusiastic cry from the rodent.

"A electric type against a ground pokémon? Your overconfidence will be your downfall." Giselle said, stoically, whilst preoccupied, if he managed to take down a rock type with a normal type, he could defeat a ground type using the mouse.

"Like I said before, types aren't everything." He said with a grin

"Bone Club" Giselle said, causing Cubone to charge at Pichu, swinging his bone.

"Double Team."

Pichu then multiplied himself, creating illusions, as soon as Cubone dispelled a double team, Pichu would create a new one.

"It's pointless." Giselle said as a very tired Cubone attacked Pichu's double teams. "Use Bonemerang."

Cubone then threw his bone as a boomerang, dispelling all the double teams at once, and almost landing a hit on Pichu, who barely leapt out of the way.

"Pichu." Ash said getting an attentive expression from the rodent.

"Use Sweet Kiss." The attentive expression was quickly gone, replaced by an angered expression and a glare.

Pichu didn't liked people calling him cute. He was powerful, not cute. He hated to use attacks such as Charm, Nuzzle and most of all Sweet Kiss. He wasn't a kisser, and to make things worse Cubone was male.

"I'll give you a bottle of ketchup."

Now Pichu's ears perked up in interest, but he still relented

Ash sighed. "Fine, two bottles."

Suddenly Pichu regained his will to fight and approached Cubone, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek, before quickly withdrawing with a disgusted expression and frenetically wiping his mouth clean.

Cubone seemed confused enough.

"Use Bone Club, his defenses are gone." Giselle ordered.

Cubone used Bone Club, onto himself, repeatedly swinging his bone at his own head.

"Grr… snap out of it. Bonemerang."

Cubone seemingly recomposed himself, launching his boner. Key word: seemingly as it was a wild throw, that came back straight at Cubone's head, properly knocking him out.

"W-winner is Ash Ketchum of Vermilion City."

"And that's how it's done." Ash said with a smirk, before heading towards the center of the field, seeing a very distraught Giselle.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself." Ash said, getting the girl's attention.

Giselle let out a dry chuckle. "You demolished me out there, my reputation is good as gone."

Ash frowned, damn rich kids and their popularity issues. "I'm giving you a mature advice, there's no such thing as a humiliating defeat, and winning or losing, both of us leaned something today, if I outmatched you this just means you will have more to learn."

Giselle nodded in understanding. Seeing the awkward silence ash cleared his throat, thus getting the brunette's attention. "I don't like to boast about myself, and I'm particularly not fond of the spotlights, but being honest I had so little to start with. If I'm here right now is that I capitalized on my shortcomings and used then to go forward. At school settings people tend to look upon records and rankings, but it's bullshit." Ash said taking a breath. "You probably were called an ace, maybe even a genius, but believe me, true geniality comes from adapting and assimilating things faster than most."

The schoolgirl frowned for a minute. "You had no strategy coming to this battle."

Ash nodded "My strategy this time was not to deploy any kind of particular strategy. When facing adverse conditions you can instead take a moment to see if there's any flaw in your opponent tactics, it's risky because you'll be playing his game but it reaps a lot when you manage to do it. The key is to keep your opponent guessing. Or you can try to find a flawless strategy, which will work regardless of who you're facing. Although" he said smirking "it's easier said than done."

The dialogue lasted about three minutes and the duo could feel the entire class surrounding them, now they were practically breathing onto their necks trying to listen to the conversation.

Ash chuckled. "Not awkward at all, right?" he asked earning a giggle from Giselle

"Yeah, it's just a normal conversation. By the way you want to rest your pokémon? I assume you're going either to Saffron or Cerulean."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that, heading to Cerulean." He nodded

"Joe, please take Ash to the infirmary, there are some medical supplies there." Giselle said to the trainer Ash defeated previously who was amongst the crowd.

"Okay, please follow me." The student said to Ash, who nodded leaving the crowd behind.

The Vermilion trainer trailed behind Joe, neither of them speaking anything, until the schoolboy broke the silence.

"She likes you." It was both a statement and a question, due to his tone.

"As a friend." Ash nodded

"No, as a potential boyfriend." He said causing Ash to chuckle.

"Bro, I'm a bit more experienced than you in this department, no offence meant, and I know how girls act when they want to hook up."

In Ash's mind it was the truth, although he tried to be nonchalant about it he knew he was well regarded by the opposite sex. His appearance was well about the average, body well-toned, whilst not crossing the line and risking becoming burly, also several girls liked his eyes, he didn't knew why but it wasn't like he was going to argue about it. Also the fact he was a Pokémon trainer, who studied under the most respected figure of the city also did wonders to his popularity. Several girls, younger and older; richer and poorer, expressed their interest and he would be lying if he told he didn't accept some of those advances, but he also was conscientious enough to not cross a line. He went to dates, kissed some girls, had some make out sessions but he didn't went further, mostly because he knew it would become a distraction. He never saw himself as a father, probably because of how inexistent was his own relationship with his father. He considered dating some girls, heck to be honest he had a bit of a crush on that blonde girl from Professor Oak's camp, but not now, it would be a distraction for his journey.

The next few minutes quickly passed by as Ash used the medical supplies to restore his own Pokémon's health, they weren't even hit but he knew how demanding the effort his pokémon made at the battle was.

"You're already planning on leaving? I think if we talk to the principal you could sleep here for today." Joe offered

"I thank you for the offer, but I must be going." Ash said with a nod, as he made his way out of the trainer's school.

"ASH! Wait." It was Giselle who said hurriedly and slightly out of breath as she reached the gates.

"Yeah?" the raven haired boy asked turning to the girl

The brunette revealed a blue box. "I've asked around for some supplies to help you in your travels"

Ash opened the box revealing a few Super Potions and some Pokéballs, besides an expensive Greatball. His eyes widened, he could count at least 400,000 Poké-dollars. "Giselle, I don't know what to say…but I can't accept it, it's too much."

"Ash, those are surplus we had, they would probably expire or caught dust at a shelf, help yourself, and when you win the league make sure to pass by to show us the trophy." The brunette replied with a warm smile.

"I don't know what to say." The trainer admitted, he was extremely wrong about the prep school trainers, having money didn't made you spoiled or an asshole, he would remember this.

"Then don't say anything." She said motioning towards Ash.

For a split second the trainer though she was going to kiss him, but she hugged him instead, he returned the hug and held her for a few seconds,

When they separated he could see a small blush on the girl's cheeks.

Rather than delaying his leave any further. He gave the girl a sincere smile. "We will see each other again." It was a confident statement, but he was sure.

He proceeded into his trek alone when he felt hunger and decided to consume his ever present canned food, as he opened the bag withdrawing the box he received earlier and glanced at his contents in silence, until he spotted something at one of the gifts. He reached for the Greatball and handled the item carefully, into the lateral of the capsule there was a small paper note sticking from the inside. He pulled out the paper and read its contents:

"_090-4284-0721_

_Giselle"_

A red lipstick mark was imprinted at the corner of the note.

Ash smiled, he wasn't interested in getting into a relationship at this stage, but if he did sometime he would surely call her.

* * *

It was already late in afternoon when Ash came upon a Gloom. Thinking a grass pokémon would be a good addition to his team he decided to capture it. With a combination of Pichu's Nuzzle and Electroweb, all Ash needed to do was throwing the Poké ball. However a few seconds before the ball touched the pokémon, a Vine Whip grabbed the ball.

The trainer turned his head to see a Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur is a small, quadruped Pokémon that has blue-green skin with darker green patches. It has red eyes with white pupils and sclera. It also has pointed ear-like structures on top of its head. On its back is a green plant bulb.

"Bulba, Bulba." He said to the Gloom, who fled the scene, before leaving as well, going into an opposite direction, carrying Ash's pokéball.

"Hey, come back here. This Poké ball costs 20000 Poké Dollars." Ash yelled chasing Bulbasaur.

The Pokémon quickly moved into the thick woods, with Ash trailing behind. The chase continued for more minutes, until Bulbasaur came to a house, where a girl, slightly older than Ash stood.

The girl had bright blue hair, tied in waist line ponytail by a green ribbon and wore red overalls over a pink t-shirt.

"Bulbasaur, who's he?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum." The boy said offering his hand in a handshake

The girl took Ash's hand. "I'm Melanie, a pleasure to meet you." She then looked at Bulbasaur who still held Ash's Poké ball with his Vine Whip.

"Bulbasaur stopped you from capturing a Pokémon right?"

"Is this a common occurrence?" Ash asked, getting a nod from the girl

"Bulbasaur helps me at the Hidden Village, a place my parents built to help pokémon released by its trainers to prepare for live at wilderness once they're ready."

"I see, I had no idea that Gloom was being cared." Ash said bowing. "If you could ask Bulbasaur to give me back the Poké Ball, I'd greatly appreciate it."

"Bulbasaur, can you give Ash his Poké Ball back?"

The grass pokémon shook his head.

"Bulbasaur doesn't trust you to give the ball back, but I have an idea, help me taking care of the pokémon today and he'll surely warm up to you."

Ash pondered his options, if he refused to help, instead opting to leave for Cerulean he would reach the city during the evening and will be able to challenge the gym tomorrow. On the other hand if he stayed he would be able to get his Poké ball back besides helping a good cause.

"I'll help."

"Great." Melanie said clasping her hands together.

Ash and Pichu followed Melanie and Bulbasaur deeper into the woods, until they saw a clearing.

"Strange. Usually the pokémon like to rest here, but it's empty."

Ash then turned to Melanie.

"Heard this noise?"

"No."

"Follow me."

Ash then guided Melanie to a deep part of the woods where several cages, containing Pokémon were being loaded into a transport truck.

"What's the meaning of this?" Melanie demanded

Then two figures appeared, donning similar black uniforms, which consisted of a black long-sleeved t-shirt with a red "R" at the middle, a black pant, or skirt in the case of the girl, with red details and white gloves with red details.

The man has teal green hair, styled in a half parted fringe and brown eyes.

The girl has golden hair, styled in a complex two sided ponytail and purple eye.

"Prepare for trouble…" the girl said

"...and make it double!" the guy completed

"Here's our mission, so you better listen!" they said in unison

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!"

"And Butch, of course!"

"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!"

As the newly identified duo finished his introduction, Ash furrowed his brows.

"Weren't the Rockets a NBA team?" he asked causing them to deadpan.

"We're Team Rocket idiot, surrender your Pokémon now." The Cassidy said

"What about a teacup of no?" Ash said ironically.

"THAT'S IT." Cassidy yelled.

"Crush him Raticate." She said, throwing a pokéball

"Primeape, help Raticate out." Butch commanded, sending out his Pokémon

"Two on one is hardly fair." Ash noted, sending out his Meowth.

Then Bulbasaur stood beside Meowth.

"You really want to help me, Bulbasaur?" the trainer asked getting a nod from the grass pokémon.

"Let's do it then."

"Raticate, use Super Fang on Meowth."

The big rodent readied his fans to attack Meowth. As he got closer, Meowth dodged, only to be hit by Primeape's Karate Chop mid airborne.

"Meowth!" Ash yelled in concern

As Meowth slowly got up, Ash realized he was in a dire situation, Meowth wouldn't be able to resist another attack like that.

"_They have good combination attacks, I need to perform my own combos."_

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf." The grass type did as asked, firing several sharpened leaf disks, targeting both pokémon. As soon as the duo leapt to get away from the attack Ash noted Raticate was slower than Primeape, so he started formulating his plan.

"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf once again." The scene repeated, however Ash had something in store.

"Meowth, use Fury Swipes on Raticate." The feline quickly repaid the attack from earlier, striking with real fury, hitting several times, severely damaging the rodent.

"You'll pay for this." Butch said angrily

"Primeape, use Low Chop on Meowth." The Rocket grunt commanded.

Surprised by the change in patterns Meowth hardly had time to avoid the attack, jumping into air a split second before the attack landed.

Quickly getting back into his senses Ash turned to Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, use…"

"Raticate, use Sucker Punch." Cassidy commanded cutting Ash off, as the rodent closed out space in a burst of speed, hitting Bulbasaur in the head with a motion similar to a kick, taking out his breath in the process.

"Shit." Ash cursed. "Bulbasaur, you're okay?" he asked in concern earning a nod from the grass type who quickly got up.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip at Raticate. Meowth, follow up with Fury Swipes." The grass pokémon expanded the vines coming from his bulb and lashed at the normal type.

"No you don't." Butch yelled back. "Primeape grab the vines and drag Bulbasaur."

"Meowth, redirect the attack to Primeape, he'll be defenseless." The Vermilion trainer yelled back shortly after.

As the vines prepared to lash at Raticate, the fighting type Primeape appeared in front of him, grabbing the vines and attempting to drag the grass starter who fiercely attempted to stand ground. A split second later the feline pokémon appeared in front of the ape and grinned viciously, unleashing a barrage of strikes, only being interrupted when the ape released the vines.

The four pokémon got back to their initial battle positions the duos facing each other from a reasonable distance.

"Meowth is his hitter." Butch said to Cassidy, loud enough for Ash to hear. They conversed indistinctively for a few seconds before nodding to each other.

"Raticate use Tail Whip on Meowth, trip him."

"Primeape, use Karate Chop, flank him."

The offending pokémon quickly surrounded the cat, only his speed making him last for some time as the flurry of attacks began to overpower the pokémon.

"Watch your feet, Meowth." Ash yelled concernedly as he saw a tail swipe sail dangerously close to his pokémon's feet. The normal type had to jump in order to escape the attack, giving Butch a clear shot at him.

"Primeape, quick use Karate Chop, let's send the kitty back to the sandbox."

Time seemed to slow for Ash as he saw his pokémon would be knocked out, by the incoming attack. In pure instincts he turned to Bulbasaur, who was unsuccessfully attempting to breach the encirclement the opposition made at Meowth. "Bulbasaur, move Meowth with your vines."

The plant pokémon nodded in understanding, threading his vines through the formation, and pulling Meowth out of the way just in time to save him from being knocked out. Ash could only watch in amazement as his strategy worked better than he ever hoped, as Primeape's attack sailed towards Raticate, who couldn't move out of the way in time, being knocked out with swirls in his eyes.

"Raticate!" Cassidy yelled angrily.

"Enough with children's play, Primeape, ready a Focus Punch." The primate started then to flow with red energy.

"_Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf can't hit from that far, and Meowth only has physical moves if this hits it's a sure OHKO…"_

Then an idea came to Ash's mind.

"_This is probably my most reckless idea ever … let's do this." _Ash thought grinning.

He then muttered something to his Pokémon.

Butch saw Ash talking with his Pokémon and decided to take a jab at him.

"Discussing surrender plans?"

"My dear Biff…"

"IT'S BUTCH DAMNIT." The rocket soldier yelled interrupting Ash

"… I'm sorry to upset you… but I'm much more a Clippers fan than a Rockets fan." "Meowth, Bulbasaur, use Cat-tapult."

Meowth then leapt at Bulbasaur bulb, before being grabbed by its vines. The Bulbasaur quickly spun Meowth around to build momentum, before throwing the cat pokémon towards Primeape with great speed.

Using the momentum to its favor, Meowth grinned; unleashing a fiery Fury Swipes strike at a helpless Primeape.

"Crap, looks like we're outmatched." Cassidy said

"There's only one thing we can do…" Butch concluded

"RETREAT!" the duo quickly said, getting at the truck before speeding off at the speed of light and leaving all of the cages behind.

Ash then looked at the very tired figures of Meowth and Bulbasaur.

"Great job Meowth, you're getting stronger each day." Ash said, before patting the cat pokémon at the head, earning a purr, before recalling it to his pokéball.

He then turned to Bulbasaur.

"Great job Bulbasaur, now can you give me my Poké ball back?"

The quadrupled just grinned, setting the ball at the ground, before touching it with his paw.

One shake

Two shakes

Three shakes

PING!

Capture successful.

Ash looked at Melanie with a confused expression.

"Bulbasaur saw you as someone worthy journeying with, besides that he was making the village so safe that the pokémon in here didn't bothered to grow stronger." The blue haired girl explained.

Ash then picked up the ball from the ground.

"Thanks for choosing me, Bulbasaur, I won't let you down."

Ash then looked at Melanie.

"It was a pleasure meeting you."

"It was pleasure meeting you too."

Ash ended up staying for the night, as it was already pretty late when he finished the battle. He parted ways with Melanie, at an early morning, before leaving to Cerulean.

* * *

After two hour of walking through the Route 5, Ash finally spotted Cerulean City. Despite being one of the biggest cities in the Kanto region, Cerulean was so well ornate and decorated that it looked much more like a tourist destination rather than an important city. The well organized and paved streets gave an air of calmness, that wasn't present in Vermilion due to its explosive, unplanned growth, pivoted by the installation of Vermilion Harbor. Ash quickly recognized Cerulean River, arguably the most important river in the region. The river's source was the famous Mt. Moon, a famous mountain that only lost to the famed Mt. Silver as Kanto's biggest mountain. It ran through Cerulean, ending up at the Lighthouse at Route 25. The water area between the Lighthouse and the harbor became known as Cerulean Cape. The harbor itself was the second bigger in Kanto, only losing to Vermilion's harbor. While Vermilion's harbor handled a great volume of merchandise and products came from regions like Hoenn, Kalos and Unova, the harbor in Cerulean was the prime gateway to Sinnoh and was much more known for receiving people instead of products. Another interesting fact regarding Cerulean was the presence of the nearby Cerulean Cave, known for the unusual presence of extremely stronger Pokémon, and thus requiring the highest level of clearance for visitation in the region of Kanto (Mt. Silver didn't count because it is geographically located in Johto). Ash was brought out by his analysis when he saw a multitude of people in front of the Gym.

"_Are all those challengers?"_ he thought frowning

He then approached a youngster who was eagerly waiting into the line.

"Hey, this is a line to challenge the gym?"

"To the gym yes, but not to challenge it. We're here for the sensational sister marine show."

"Sensational Sisters?"

"Are you dumb, how come you never heard of the face and pride of the Cerulean?" the youngster asked in a scolding tone.

"I'm not from here…"

"Oh, I see." The boy then took a flyer from his pocket, showing it to Ash.

The flyer featured three very beautiful women, whose ages appeared to range from 16 to 20, posing in a group photo. The first one, from left to the right, has blonde hair long hair, with a pale pink flower acting as a decoration, and green eyes, wearing a red one piece swimsuit, the middle one has long indigo hair, a bit darker than Melanie for instance, brown eyes and spotted a green swimsuit, finally the last one has long pink hair, blue eyes and spotted a yellow swimsuit. Bellow the three it read "The Amazing Waterflowers of Cerulean City".

"From left to the right Daisy, Violet and Lily, they are the city gym leaders and performers."

"Oh, I see…"

"I don't think they'll be able to accept your challenge today, will you stay for watch the show?"

Ash looked in deep thought for a moment, the boy was right, his battle would have to wait until tomorrow. He could do some extra training, he remembered seeing a flyer at the Pokémon Center about a tournament of sorts taking place at Route 25, but he could enjoy a day off, seeing three beauties in bikinis… if he was lucky there was a chance of a nipple slip to happen… Ash gritted his teeth.

"_Success first, girls later…"_ he decided as he took the road to Route 25.

* * *

On his way to the tournament, Ash had to go through Route 24, where a golden bridge, known as the Nugget Bridge, crossed the Cerulean River. As he was in a hurry he didn't stopped to note the facers of the people standing at the bridge. However there was a thing that caught his attention, a Charmander, curled into a rock, attentively looking at the horizon, as if waiting for someone.

"_He's waiting for its trainer?"_

Charmander is a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon with a primarily orange body. Its underside from the chest down and soles are cream-colored. It has two small fangs visible in its upper jaw and two smaller fangs in its lower jaw. Charmander has blue eyes. Its arms and legs are short with four fingers and three clawed toes. A fire burns at the tip of this Pokémon's slender tail and has blazed there since Charmander's birth.

Ash then knelt to face the Pokémon, who looked wary, but didn't move.

"Waiting for someone?" he asked, getting a nod from the pokémon.

He then took an Oran Berry from his bag, and gave it to Charmander.

"They say time passes by faster if you're eating." He said in a friendly tone. "Speaking of time… it seems as I'm running late, so excuse me." The trainer concluded, leaving the lizard pokémon with the berry atop the rock.

Ash was barely able to reach the tournament site, but still managed to claim the last spot in the tournament. The format was single, one-on-one battles.

Ash decided to give his Meowth a little bit more of experience as he already planned on giving it a rest on the gym battle. Since Cerulean was his first shot at a real gym battle he decided to challenge the gym using his Pichu, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. He guessed that the gym used three on three battles as there were three sisters. Pichu and Bulbasaur were chosen due to their type advantage, while Squirtle even while not being able to do damage with his water attacks, could easily punish the opponent with his Bite and had coverage against water attacks.

In the Last of 32 round, he easily got past a schoolboy's Oddish due using Meowth's Technician boosted Fury Swipes.

In the Last of 16 he defeated yet another schoolboy, who possessed an Eevee using a lethal combination of Bite and Fury Swipes.

In the Quarter Finals his Meowth finally received damage as he clashed against a Lass's Gloom. But in the end he once again managed to emerge victorious.

The semifinal saw Ash facing a male camper, who used a Nidoran Male. Despite the foe's Poison Point ability and it's supper effective Double Kick move, Meowth managed to defeat him using Screech to lower its defenses enough before sweeping him with his Bite.

In the final Meowth and Ash face a Schoolboy and his Pidgeotto. Despite having a slight speed advantage, Meowth was overwhelmed by the avian Pokémon use of Double Team and Gust. When everything seemed lost, Meowth learned a new move: Faint Attack, and used it to bypass the double team and claim the win.

After getting the prize, a Nugget, and a small symbolical medal, Ash was about to make his way back to Cerulean when a male voice called his name. The trainer turned around to face boy, slightly older than him, with wavy brown hair and black eyes, he wears a purple shirt and brown pants.

"Hello, I'd like to congratulate you on your performance on the tournament."

"Thanks."

"The Meowth you used is a very interesting pokémon and I dare say it's among the strongest in his species. So I'd like to study him."

"I see… sorry but no, I have no time." Ash said warily, after running with Team Lakers or something like that in the Pokémon Village he became a bit suspicious of people.

"You don't trust me right?" the researcher called

"It's not personal, but I don't trust people unless they give me a good reason to do so."

"My name is Bill, I developed the Pokémon Storage System, now I'm also starting my own research at pokémon genetics and development." He said offering his hand

"Ash Ketchum, from Vermilion City." The trainer said shacking Bill's hand

"What if I make a deal with you?"

"What kind of deal?"

"If you let me research your pokémon I'll give you their advanced status, abilities and characteristics besides a TM Case."

This caught Ash's interest, he had no Pokédex and wasn't able to access the PSS (Pokémon Storage System), so learning about his pokémon abilities and those stuff would be of a great help. The TM Case would sweeten the deal even more.

"I accept only if my pokémon agree and if I get to watch."

"It's a deal then."

* * *

Bill then guided Ash to his house, known as the Sea Cottage. As Bill researched Ash's Pokémon, giving special attention to Meowth and Pichu the trainer saw the imposing Cape Lighthouse. He then looked at a poster Bill had glued into the wall.

"Are you a member of PfP (Pokémon for People)?" Ash asked

"Yes, I'm their vice president." Bill explained "What do you think of our cause?"

The Pokémon for People organization was born after the league and the PPA (Pokémon Protection Agency) decided to limit, and by some degree elitize the access of pokémon. They greatly opposed to that, wanting to have pokémon being freely given to the people.

"Whilst it would be much easier to me if pokémon were more accessible, I understand some of the league points… some people are very immature, even with the age requirement increase."

"Don't tell me about that, when you're coming here you happened to see a Charmander atop a rock?"

"Yes."

"He was released by his trainer, but it refuses to leave the rock because he believes his trainer will come back for him."

"I see…" Ash said calmly, but inward he was angry, like Squirtle and Bulbasaur, Charmander was released by a trainer, and people who merely treated Pokémon like possessions were the worst of the scum, even worse than Team…Spurs?...Mavericks?... no Rocket.

"_I still get their name wrong."_ He inwardly thought

"Even though there are unworthy trainers here and there, I trust the power of the bond between people and pokémon, it's unfair to prevent the majority of the population from having the wonderful experience of having a pokémon just because of some few assholes." Bill explained

"I agree, hopefully your organization can find a good solution for this problem." Ash said

"I've finished the checkup, but it will still take some time for the results to be ready. If you want to I can get your phone number so I can text you with the results." Bill said

"It would be great." Ash said

"Also there's another matter of interest. It came to my attention that you don't have a Pokédex, so you're unable to access the PSS, making you stuck with the max of six pokémon, not even being able to capture more right?"

"Yes."

"I can offer to store some of your caught pokémon at this cottage, I won't demand any fee at all, there will be a limit of the number of the pokémon you can store here of course but it's still better than nothing."

Ash was very surprised.

"Why?" was his only question

"Because if you're successful the PfP would have their interest defended. Come to think of it, if you, a kid who has nothing at all, and became a trainer just with sheer willpower and guts, win or get some recognition at the league we will have some good leverage about unrestricting the use of Pokémon against the PPA."

"I accept, our shared interests tie us together." Ash said solemnly.

"Great!" Bill said, handling Ash a spherical device. "This is a one way transporter, pre-programmed to transport Pokémon to the Sea Cottage, just put the recently captured pokémon pokéball in here and I'll receive and store it almost immediately."

"And how I call back the pokémon I sent to you?"

"You'll need to go to the Pokémon Center and contact me, I'm working in a two way transporter but it's still in early developmental stages."

"No problem, thanks for the help Bill."

"I'm the one who should've been thanking you for the opportunity to study such amazing pokémon. By the way, don't forget this." Bill said handling Ash a TM Case.

"You know how TM'S work right?"

"Yes, reproduce the on the device to a pokémon who can learn the selected move, they can be used freely too right?"

"Yes, in the past they were one use only but nowadays they're made by much more resilient material, allowing multiple uses."

"Once again, thanks for everything, Bill."

"Win the league and I'll be the one thanking you."

* * *

After talking with Bill, Ash opted for returning to the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City, it was already night and he hoped to get a good night of sleep to finally challenge the sensational sisters tomorrow. As he was checking in at the Center, he heard a smug, boisterous voice.

"I'm telling you he was so weak that it couldn't even damage a Bellsprout."

Some of the attendants chuckled. "And what you did with it Damian?"

"I released it of course, my team is no place for weak pokémon. But it is so stupid that he believes I'm still coming back to him, like I'd waste my time with trash like him."

Ash connected the dots, this Damian guy was the trainer of the Charmander he saw at Route 24, to see him referring to Charmander like that, made his blood boil, and he acted purely on instinct.

"HEY ASSHOLE." He said, causing Damian to turn to him

"What do you…" he said only to be interrupted by a strong punch from Ash connecting straight to his face.

"Pokémon aren't possessions, they're our friends, having someone like you as a trainer is the worst fate a pokémon can have."

Ash then once again charged towards Damian, only to be stopped by an Officer Jenny, who grabbed him from behind.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST."

* * *

Unlike some people who would feel shame on being arrested, Ash didn't flinch or faltered. When he was conducted to the police car, he held his head up unlike several other people who would bow in shame. In his mugshot he glared at the camera, as if defying it. He then was thrown at a jail alongside his Pichu, who refused to leave his side. Unlike Vermilion, Cerulean had a low crime rate, so the jail only had the arrested trainer and his faithful companion as occupants.

Ash had no idea of how much time he stayed there, in some point he glanced up to see the approaching figure of Officer Jenny.

"The offended party decided not to press charges against you, consider yourself lucky."

"…"

Growing up onto Vermilion's most dangerous neighborhood had some perks, he knew several people who got arrested, mainly for drug use and thefts, although some of his classmates at school were once accused of assaulting members from a rival gang. He had theoretical experience in this area, and knew that he shouldn't talk without a lawyer as he would probably put himself into even more trouble trying to talk his way out of it.

"Nothing to say?"

"… at least I broke his nose?" Ash asked, causing Jenny to chuckle

"Yes, I must admit that you have one hell of a right hook for a fourteen year old, but answer me, it was worth it?"

"I caused him pain, so partially yes, but it still doesn't compare to what Charmander felt, so I still wish I had dealt more damage."

"I'm a police officer and I'm disgusted by the treatment this guy gives to his pokémon, yet I can't do anything."

"…"

"… I assume you want to be alone, so I must go then."

After some more time Jenny once again approached the cell, opening its doors.

"Someone bailed you out, this time you got out with just a complaint and a warning, but if this proves to be a constant occurrence your license can be suspended or even revoked."

"Okay."

Ash quickly got his possessions back before heading out, coming face to face with Bill.

"You bailed me out?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you did what everyone else wanted to do for a long time."

"I should've kicked his nuts…" Ash said, earning some chuckles from Bill.

The conversation then was interrupted by a loud thunder.

"It looks like it'll rain soon."

As soon as Bill said that, Ash stormed off, with only one thought in his head.

"_Must check on Charmander…"_

* * *

When Ash got to the rock it was already raining. Charmander still faithfully clung to the rock although he was curling in a ball form, shivering, and the flare on his tail on the verge of extinguishing. Ash wasn't a pokémon researcher but he knew that if the flare extinguished, Charmander would die. He quickly took off his bomber jacket, enveloping Charmander, before guiding it to the closest indoor location that he could think off, the Lighthouse.

Ash kept in standing vigil for the entire night, there were some times that Charmander's tail flame almost extinguished, but in the end the lizard pokémon survived. Bill passed by the next morning and took care of Charmander alongside Ash; the pokémon had a severe case of malnourishment and a nasty flu, courtesy of the storm from last night.

For the next week, Ash set aside his training alongside his pokémon to take care of Charmander full time. When Bill finally deemed the pokémon as healthy, Ash took out both his Bulbasaur and Squirtle out of their pokéballs. Seeing Charmander puzzled expression, Ash sat down, looking directly at his eyes.

"Both Bulbasaur and Squirtle were abandoned by his trainers." Ash said as his two pokémon nodded

"In some ways they're like you, so I'm officially offering you a place as one of my Pokémon. Life won't be easy, but I promise to help you accomplish any objective you may have. I'll be blunt with you, Damian will never come back, and despite what you think, this is a good thing, you were one of the most loyal pokémon I've ever seen, but to an unworthy trainer. Loyalty is one of the most important qualities in relationships, between people, pokémon and people and pokémon, but it's useless if it's one sided, both trust and loyalty are two way roads, you're free to make your choice, but if you choose to come with me, to be loyal to me, to trust me, I'll do the same."

"So, what do you say?" Ash said extending a Poké Ball to Charmander.

The lizard-like pokémon just nodded, before touching the pokéball.

One shake

Two shakes

Three shakes

PING!

Capture successful.

"Thanks for trusting me Charmander, I promise to be the best I can be for you." Ash said, taking the pokéball and touching his heart with it.

* * *

Ash was heading back to Cerulean, with the challenge to the gym in his mind. He already decided to settle with using Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pichu, but his team as a whole was shaping greatly. Charmander's addition created what Ash decided to call 'The Trident', the combination of Kanto's grass, fire and water starters, providing Ash with lots of coverage when facing different opponents.

He was crossing the Nugget Bridge, when he snarled, seeing the figure of Damian, glaring at him.

Damian has wavy blue hair, pink shirt, covered by a cowboy like vest and a pair of blue sunglasses on his forehead. He also had a band aid on his nose, courtesy of Ash's right hook last week.

"What do you want?" Ash demanded

"MY Charmander back." He replied in an equally aggressive tone

"Like I said before, pokémon aren't possessions, pokémon are partners. You broke your partner's trust when you released him. He's no longer your Charmander, he's Charmander, my partner and friend."

"GIVE ME MY CHARMANDER BACK."

"Pathetic." Ash said as he saw Damian throwing a childlike tantrum, ignoring him and proceeding to cross the bridge.

"DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME." Damian yelled throwing a punch at Ash's face.

Ash easily dodged the punch, counterattacking Damian with a left uppercut, that sent him flying backwards.

As Ash once again attempted to cross the bridge, he heard his enemy again.

"Don't dare turn your back on me, Poliwag crush him." He said calling out the tadpole pokémon

"I'm not going to waste my time with the likes of…" Ash said only to be interrupted by Charmander coming out of his pokéball.

The lizard like pokémon had an angry expression as he glared at Damian.

"Are you sure of this Charmander?" Ash asked, getting a nod from the pokémon.

"The traitor showed up." Damian said mockingly.

"Poliwag, kill him."

The tadpole like pokémon then unleashed a flurry of water attacks at Charmander, who impassively glared at Damian.

"Charmander, dodge." Ash said as his pokémon dodged the first wave of attacks

"Don't stand back Poliwag, unleash another barrage."

As Ash was about to command Charmander once again he noticed a purple like energy forming at the Lizard pokémon's mouth.

"New attack?" Ash inquired as the Lizard pokémon nodded. "Then show me."

Charmander then unleashed the energy in a stream, instantly knocking out Poliwag who was hit dead center by the attack.

"_That's a Dragon Rage attack." _Ash noted

Damian then took five Pokéballs at once.

Predicting what Damian was about to do Ash quickly called Pichu, who stood atop his shoulder alongside Bulbasaur and Squirtle.

"Pichu, use Thundershock."

"Charmander, Dragon Rage."

"Squirtle, use Water Gun."

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf."

The combination attacks sent Damian flying far away. Then a strong rain started to fall, startling Ash.

"_It was sunny until like a minute ago."_

He then glanced to the clouded sky, and saw a sight he would never forget. A dragon-like pokémon, with silver and white plumes, and blue belly. If Ash had to describe it in one world it would be 'majestic'. The young trainer then heard a voice from inside his head.

"_Impressive, Chosen One."_

The storm then suddenly stopped once again, leaving place for the bright sunlight. Ash was still trying to get around the fact that a Pokémon just spoke with him, when he saw a silver wing, belonging to the flying figure, landing at his hand. He then glanced at the wing, remembering the previous events.

Just similarly to when he caught Charmander he took the wing, placing it close to his heart.

"_I'll treasure this, forever."_

* * *

After recovering his pokémon at the pokémon center, Ash was finally ready for his battle. He asked Pichu to stay in his pokéball for a while, as he felt like it could help him to surprise the leaders.

The gym building resembled a carousel of sorts with round roof and stripped tiles. Inside the gym, Ash was greeted by a large aquarium, with several native water types from Kanto, such as Shellder, Goldeen, Magikarp. He then entered the central area, where he saw the gym's battlefield.

The battlefield consisted of a large pool with two opposing platforms and a referee pod at the side.

"Hello there cutie, here to see the Sensational Sisters show?" a girl's voice asked in a seductive tone

Ash turned to see the gym leaders: Daisy, who spoke with him previously, Lily and Violet, wearing sundresses.

The raven haired trainer had to admit the flyer did the sisters no justice, to be honest with himself he actually was worried about how he would be able to battle the sisters if he kept having perverted thoughts of them. He quickly recomposed himself.

"I'd like to ask for a gym battle." He said in a serious tone.

The sisters sighed, then Lily spoke.

"Okay, which one of us do you want to face? I'm assuming you'll chose the prettier girl, in other words, me." She said with a wink

"_There's no need to fear, just chose any of them and get this show on the road."_

However when Ash looked at the girls, he felt something taking over him.

"If I'm to choose the prettiest girl… I choose… the three of you."

The girls giggled and blushed a bit, Lily was the first one to recompose herself and thus addressed Ash.

"Three on three battle, each one of us will command one pokémon, sounds right to you?"

"Yes."

Soon the group took their respective places, with Ash facing Daisy first and Violet acting as a referee.

"This will be an official gym battle between Ash Ketchum of Vermilion City and The Sensational Sisters of Cerulean Gym. The chosen format is three-on-three, only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon, that being said, let the battle begin, trainers send out your first Pokémon."

"Go Squirtle." Ash commanded

"Goldeen, be ready to battle." Daisy said

Goldeen is a white, fish-like Pokémon with orange markings on its tail, back, and fins. On its forehead is a large horn.

Soon both Pokémon dived underwater.

"_Goldeen has a slight advantage here because he's already used to fighting in this environment, but I still believe Squirtle is faster."_

"Goldeen, Horn Attack."

"Squirtle, repel it with rapid spin."

Squirtle did as asked, but due to the water resistance he couldn't build enough momentum to properly perform the move, thus being hit by Goldeen's horn and sent crashing against the wall.

"Squirtle, are you okay?" Ash asked concerned

"Squir…" the pokémon nodded, wincing a bit

"_Using rapid spin wasn't really my best idea, Goldeen may be slower, but anatomically speaking he's better designed to fight underwater… so I change of scenery is in order."_

"Squirtle get into the platform and tuck your head in."

The turtle pokémon quickly leapt, before tucking his head at the shell.

"Goldeen, once again hit him with Horn Attack."

The fish pokémon quickly built his speed underwater before leaping toward the platform, where Squirtle was standing still.

"Squirtle, Skull Bash now, target Goldeen's body and avoid the horn at all costs."

Squirtle then started to glow white due to the accumulated energy, and went in encounter of Goldeen. As the horn neared Squirtle, the amphibious pokémon did a slide to get past it, before connecting a clear Skull Bash to Goldeen's underbelly. The impact was enormous, sending the fish pokémon outside of the pool, and towards the platform.

"Restrain him and Skull Bash once again." Ash commanded capitalizing on the newfound advantage, he then turned to Daisy. "There's no way out, surrender now, please."

The sensational sister nodded. "I forfeit." She said as Squirtle got out of Goldeen and back to Ash.

"Goldeen is unable to battle, the winner of this round is Ash Ketchum from Vermilion City."

"Good job Squirtle, you made us all proud." Ash complimented, recalling his pokémon while Daisy did the same before turning to Ash.

"Attractive, charming and a great trainer, looks like we got the full package." Daisy said with a flirtatious smile, causing Ash to blush.

Soon enough Violet took her place at the leader's pod, with Lily taking up the referee role.

"The same rules from the previous battle apply here, trainers send out your pokémon."

"Bulbasaur, I need your help."

"Go, Seel."

Seel is a seal like pokémon with white fur. The small horn above his forehead and his two tusks were his trademark features.

Seel leapt underwater, while Bulbasaur stood at the platform.

"Bulbasaur let's grab the bull by its horns, well not the bull but the seal, you get what I mean." Ash said causing everyone present to sweatdrop.

Bulbasaur then used his Vine Whip to grab Seel from underwater, restraining him at ground level.

"Great, let's finish with Razor…" Ash said before taking notice of Violet's actions. The Cerulean leader decided to take off her sundress, thus spotting a very small green two piece bikini. "… boobs." Ash said incoherently, causing Bulbasaur to turn to look him, giving Violet and Seel the opening they needed.

"Seel, use Ice Shard."

The attack impacted at Bulbasaur, causing great damage. Ash quickly recomposed himself, realizing what happened, while Bulbasaur grunted in pain.

"That was a very dirty trick." Ash said sternly

"A trainer must use all her assets to win, besides it's really hot today." Violet replied with a wink

Ash took a deep breath.

"I agree wholeheartedly. In fact I think I'll follow your example." Ash said, lazily taking off his jacket and his t-shirt, showing his muscled upper body to the sisters.

He shrugged the lustful looks off, instead turning to Bulbasaur.

"Please use Razor Leaf at Seel."

The grass type nodded, unleashing a torrent of edged leaves. While a fairly potent attack, it was avoidable, keyword was, because Violet was still drooling at Ash's body and only saw the attack when it landed at Seel, knocking him out instantly.

"Winner is Ash Ketchum of Six Pack City, I mean Vermilion City" Lily said.

Violet absently minded recalled Seel, still without taking her eyes of Ash's torso.

Ash amusedly signaled to Violet to clean the drool at the corner of her mouth, which the girl did blushing a deeper shade of red.

The trainer then put back his t-shirt, earning disapproving moans from the girls.

"_It was nice winning like this, but I feel like a gigolo."_ Ash reasoned to himself

The sisters quickly recomposed themselves, with Lily taking her spot and Daisy acting as a referee.

"Trainers, send out your pokémon."

"Go, Gyarados."

Gyarados is a dragon-like Pokémon. It is mostly blue, with a yellow underbelly and yellow spots along its body.

Ash took a deep breath, everything came up to this…

"Go, Pichu." Ash said, throwing the pokéball and revealing the rodent pokémon.

…

…

…

…

"OH MY GOD…" Daisy said

"… HE IS…" Violet continued

"… SO CUTE." Lily completed squealing

Soon enough the girls rounded Pichu, hugging him fiercely, causing Ash and Gyarados to sweatdrop.

Pichu was beyond pissed, he even tried to ask for Gyarados to control her trainer, only being greeted by a laughter from the atrocious pokémon. Pichu in his own mind wasn't cute, he is a strong pokémon, a killer in the good meaning, if there's one, of the word. He hated having to use the Sweet Kiss, in fact he decided to demand extra ketchup compensation to Ash everytime he had to go through this humiliation. But being hugged to death by some girls was outrageous, he was not teddy bear, he's a cold blooded warrior, one of the likes to be feared, not hugged to death. The anger turned into white energy, and soon he started to change forms.

His body grew a lot, the once thin rodent became burly, even chubby if you will. The once pale pink cheeks grew and changed to red. The once prototype tail became a fully developed one. The small triangle like ears, became pointed, stick-like, ones. The gold fur changed to a more orange like color. Pichu had just evolved

Ash was speechless at first, but quickly regained his composure.

"I guess Pichu, didn't appreciated being hugged to death by you three." Ash said, turning to the Sensational Sisters

"Although I'd kill to be in his place." Ash flirtatiously added, causing the girls to blush crimson red.

"How you feel, Pikachu?" Ash said, with emphasis on the rodent new name.

Pikachu looked at his own body, before letting out an enthusiastic cry, which would roughly be translated as 'I'm ready to kick some ass.'

"Then let's get this show on the road." Ash said grinning.

Soon the trainers took their places, with Gyarados swimming underwater and Pikachu standing at the platform.

"_Pikachu has a dual type advantage here…one good hit and it's over…"_

"Gyarados, use Hyper Beam." Lily ordered.

The atrocious Pokémon then leapt from underwater, opening his jaw, revealing an orange stream of energy, targeting Pikachu from the above.

"Pikachu, use Double Team to avoid it."

The rodent followed Ash's command to perfection, swiftly dodging a certain defeat should the attack hit. As Gyarados was left panting, unable to move due to Hyper Beam's side effect, Ash knew the battle was about to end.

"Pikachu jump at Gyarados head."

As soon as the rodent climbed atop the dragon-like pokémon head using the opponent's fins as handlebars, Ash grinned.

"It's over, Pikachu, use Thundershock."

The four times super effective attack connected from point blank range, fainting the atrocious pokémon instantly.

"Gyarados is unable to battle, the winner is Ash Ketchum of Vermilion City." Daisy said.

As Lily recalled the Gyarados, she signaled for a Seel to come forward. The seal pokémon then opened his mouth, revealing a cerulean blue raindrop-like badge.

"As Gym Leader of Cerulean I hereby concede you the Cascade Badge." Lily said, handling the badge to Ash

"Take this as a personal gift from us." Daisy then stepped forward, handling a cerulean blue badge case

"Wow, thanks."

Violet then stepped forward.

"Since you defeated the three of us a special reward is in order." She said with a mischievous grin.

"Special reward?"

"Yes, a date with the three of us." Daisy said enthusiastically.

"_God bless Cerulean City."_ Ash thought, containing a blush.

* * *

The group then opted for a get out to the movies, while Ash wasn't actually happy in seeing a movie about vampires that shined near the sun, he at least dodged a bullet as the girls wanted to go shopping instead.

Ash and the sisters opted for seats in one of the last rows in the movie theater. Daisy and Lily flanked Ash by his right and left respectively, while Violet sat beside Lily. The movie was boring as hell, and Ash was trying his best to not fall asleep.

Last week Ash almost got kissed by Giselle and now looking back some of the signs Melanie sent him he could've probably had something with her too.

This time there were no almost, Daisy decided to start kissing him, their tongues battled for dominance with Ash winning the right to explore the blonde Sensational Sister mouth. As soon as they pulled out to catch some breath, Ash turned to see Lily already moving to claim his mouth in a lustful kiss. Unable to rest, Ash kissed the pink haired sister, while occasionally toying with Daisy's hair caressing her. Then Violet somehow appeared from behind the trio, kissing Ash.

"Shall we take this to the next level?" she asked in a seductive tone

Ash just nodded, followed by the other two sisters, leaving the cinema in a hurry. While the group made their way to the Cerulean Gym, Ash's mind was racing.

"_It's really going to happen, shit, what I do?"_

As soon as the group arrived at the front of the gym, the girls noticed a very angry figure standing at the door.

"OH SHIT…"

"…IT'S…"

"…MISTY." The sister said in unison.

The newly identified Misty was a different kind of beauty when compared to the other gym leaders by Ash's eyes. She was tomboyish and didn't seem the type of girl to spend hours fixing her hair. Still, she was as pretty as any of her sisters, as Ash presumed by the facial features and skin color.

Misty has orange hair, tied in a one-sided bun by a blue band, unlike her sister's her hair was wild, untamed. Ash then noticed her viridian green eyes, which paired well with her auburn hair.

Finally taking notice of her clothes, Ash saw the clear difference in styles. While her sisters usually wore sundresses, Misty opted for a pale sleeveless yellow top and jeans short. She also wears red suspenders.

"Hey Misty…" Daisy said carefully.

"Don't hey me." Misty yelled.

"You weren't there to receive the challengers, besides closing the gym for days in order to do your stupid marine shows. Finally you go and lose to an inexperienced trainer with weak pokémon just because you were looking at his body."

"Hey." Ash said sternly. "You can talk about me as long as you like, but don't get my pokémon involved."

"You're still a weak trainer, if you were battling against me you would lose easily."

"Last guy who said this was blasted off." Ash muttered getting quizzical looks from the sisters. "Anyway if you're a Gym leader why you weren't at the gym?"

"Because I went on a journey to become the best water type trainer in the Kanto region."

This caught Ash's attention, he always took time to talk with other travelers.

"Really? Where you went?"

"I wanted to go to Johto and check out their water types, but apparently there were some reports of strange activities at Mt. Silver and the passageway was temporarily closed. So I was forced to get back there."

"I see." Ash nodded, the earlier exchanges completely forgotten. "You could've gone to Cinnabar Island people say there are some unique water types." Ash reasoned

"How do you know this?" she asked a bit dubiously

"I worked at Vermilion Harbor for four years, so I naturally exchanged information with some of the sailors." He explained.

"That explains the abs." Lily muttered, earning a glare from Misty and a small blush from Ash.

Misty nodded in understanding, before turning to Ash. "Care for a small battle?"

"I'm afraid I'm running behind schedule here, I must be off to Pewter as soon as possible, but Lily has my number, so keep in touch; we can meet and battle sometime."

Misty nodded before turning to her sisters.

"Now, we need to have a very serious talk." Misty said, causing the girls to flinch and rush inside the house.

"Keep your promise." She said before entering the house/gym too, leaving Ash alone alongside Pikachu.

"Pikachu, did I just got cockblocked?" Ash asked incredulously, earning a snicker from the rodent.

* * *

Man, this rewritten chapter has 11k words as opposed to the first version's 9k. Next chapter will probably be the most important and will introduce the third most important character in the Kanto saga. Besides there'll be a big deal of things happening and some emotional stuff too. I haven't started the rewrite yet, but it'll mostly likely take slightly longer, as Chapter 5 has about 13k words. Now, let's got to my favorite part, the review section:

**Shane**: Thanks for the review and the compliment, there will be always a discussion between what a harem is and what is a multipairing is, and right now I don't see any kind of formal distinction between the two. I personally frown a bit on the harem term as these stories usually rely a lot on instant connection between the main character and the girls (or boys sometimes too), my proposal was to make, in my own definition, a story where Ash would end up with more than one girl, whilst personally developing their relationship gradually. For instance the AdvanceShipping in the Hoenn part will have an extremely rocky start and May will nearly hate Ash. But that's my concept and everyone is allowed to disagree on that. So as long as you're enjoying the story, and hopefully posting reviews, I, as a writer, am happy.

**Doc oc 102**: You beat me to the punch here man, as the so much needed female rival will be… no other than Misty herself! Jokes aside I agree on most of your review, as Ash always had main male rivals and I don't recall him losing to a female trainer other than a gym leader. Now, Leaf will be a different story, she still talks with Serena a lot, and will mostly likely realize she has a crush on Ash. Besides in order to balance things I thought Ash would need someone who wouldn't crush on him. I have nothing against the pairing, but, in my opinion, it can't fit into the story.

**Chux Ehn**: Thanks for the review, unfortunately, as I said above, as a writer I can't seem to find a reasonable way, or motive, to do the Furthershipping (AshxLeaf). As for the pokémon you suggested, some will definitively appear, although I'm afraid that I won't include any of Generation VII pokémon or the Let's Go moves, as most of my knowledge comes from gaming and I stopped at OR/AS games at Gen VI. Of the regular pokémon you mentioned four will definitively make to Ash's team, perhaps even more. As for the legendary…I can't spoil it yet, so please keep reading.

**UnsanMusho**: Thanks for the continued reviews, they truly mean a lot to me. As for your question…I can answer to you on private who Ash's father is, but since his identity would be a major plot giveaway I can't write here, I hope you understand. So if you're still interested message me.

**ultimateCCC** : First of all I'd like to thank you for leaving a review in each of the chapters so far, this truly means a lot to me. I believe your question was answered in this chapter, Ash now has each of the Kanto starters, and unlike the anime Squirtle and Bulbasaur will actually evolve. As for Ash's nickname, I have one planned out when he reaches the Indigo League, so please wait a few more chapters.

* * *

The last two days I had some unexpected free time, so I'm glad to announce that I already completed the rewrite of Chapter 5. I won't release two chapters in the same day as I'm still trying to gather reviews/follows, so expect to see an update next friday.


	5. Pewter Bonds

As promised the rewritten version of Chapter 5, please enjoy.

* * *

_"There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love."_ \- Bryant H. McGill

* * *

**Chapter Five - Pewter Bonds**

After the battle and the date with the sisters, Ash decided to rest at Bill's house before going to Pewter. As soon as he got at the cottage, he was greeted by an enthusiastic Bill.

"Just the guy I was looking for." Bill said

"I'm here." Ash said, raising an eyebrow.

"I finished the studies of your Pokémon." Bill, said getting Ash's attention

"So?" the trainer asked interestedly

"And I concluded that you have a group of Pokémon with great potential."

"How great do you mean?" Ash asked curiously

"Let me give you the individual reports so you can have the bigger picture."

"Okay."

"Who should I start with?"

"What about Pikachu here?" Ash said, pointing to his newly evolved rodent

"So he finally evolved right?"

"Finally?" he asked curiously

"Pichu evolves by having a great value of happiness and a sufficiently strong bond with its trainer, it was bound to happen somehow."

"And you didn't warn me?"

"I thought it would be a nice surprise."

"I must admit, it was." Ash said with a smirk

"Now for the report:" Bill said, before taking a file from a folder.

"Pikachu, as you know is a male specimen. He has above average attack and special attack stats, making him a potential mixed attacker. He has elite tier speed as a way to compensate his lack of defenses, both physical and special, and HP. His ability is Static, which paralyses pokémon upon physical contact. Since he's your first pokémon I assume he's the one you familiarized the most, so most of those data probably were already known by you." He explained

"Indeed they were, although your data now is the validation I needed to institute a special training regimen for Pikachu." Ash replied

"May I ask what kind of regimen?"

"If I were to train Pikachu in its bulk to improve his defenses and endurance I'd be losing speed while not completely protecting him. Instead I'll be training Pikachu in speed, I plan on making him a gun and run type of pokémon."

"Gun and run?" Bill asked curiously

"Yes, use the speed to create openings and attack, but retreating before the opponent can respond."

"I must admit that this is a good way to use Pikachu strengths while minimizing his weaknesses." Bill noted

"Thanks, what about the rest of the data?"

"Well, which one do you want next?"

"Meowth next, please."

"Meowth is male too. His greatest strengths lie in his attack and speed, making him a perfect option for a sweeper. His ability, Technician powers up weak moves, sometimes making them even stronger than the updated version of them. It provides him the all-around element as weaker moves usually have strongest added effects. Also there are some signs that he may be closer to evolving."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I'd thread carefully there, Meowth has yet to learn his signature move in Payday, so I'd advise you to hold back his evolution until he learn some more moves."

Ash knew pre-evolved forms of Pokémon tended to learn stronger moves earlier, as a way to balance the power, Surge's Raichu was a prime example, the former military used the Thunderstone way too soon, as he always prioritized power. However due to his Gym Leader status he was able to get through the lack of powerful moves by using the heavily expensive TMs.

"The decision is not mine to make, its Meowth's." Ash said simply, he regarded his pokémon as partners, not tools, so he wouldn't force an evolution just to get the best of a pokémon.

Bill smiled at Ash's words, it seemed like he made a right choice helping him.

"Now, which report do you want next?"

"Squirtle's report."

"He's male and his ability is Torrent, but Squirtle has the most interesting backstory. I realized there were some peculiarities in his DNA, so I called a friend in Kalos to check a theory."

"Kalos, as in Kalos, France? That's like on the other side of the world."

"Yes, this is what makes things interesting, tell me Ash have you ever read about a pokémon called Clawitzer?"

"No."

"It's a native from the Kalos region." Bill said, handling Ash a picture.

Ash glanced at the image, it showed a light blue shrimp with a single black stripe on each of its body segments. The shrimp's right claw was much bigger than the left one and resembled a launcher of sorts.

"This is Clawitzer?"

"Yes, he's known for appearing in the Kalos Muraille Coast. A somewhat rare pokémon."

"I see, but why you're showing me this?"

"Because my studies have shown that Squirtle has dormant Clawitzer genes, what makes him an offspring of a male Clawitzer and a female Squirtle."

"So Squirtle is from Kalos?"

"It's a possibility, but we can't rule out the chance of having a Clawitzer in Kanto too. Have you ever heard of Pokémon Breeding?"

"I heard some of the basic concepts."

"There's a concept called chain breeding, using your Pikachu as an example, if a female Pikachu mates with a male Clefairy, the offspring Pichu will learn a Fairy type move that otherwise would be unavailable."

"Cool, so you telling me that Squirtle can use some of Clawitzer's moves?"

"In the theory, yes."

"In the theory?"

"As you know, pokémon research in France isn't as developed as in Japan, so there's not much data of Clawitzer's learnset."

"So you don't know if Squirtle will ever learn some of his moves, nor what those moves are." Ash concluded

"Yes, but I can assure you that Clawitzer is a pokémon high base special stats, so I'd suggest you to drill Squirtle in those moves."

"I see, I'll probably do so."

"Now for the rest of your pokémon data: Bulbasaur has good defensive and HP status, while his speed and attack are average. He's male and his ability is Overgrow."

"Good."

"Charmander is male and his ability is Blaze, his defenses are a bit above average, while he has excellent speed and attack stats. But what stands out the most is his elite tier Special Attack, I must admit it's the highest potential I've ever seen. Finally he also is showing to be in the earlier stages of the evolution process, so I'd suggest you to get him as much as battle experience possible."

"Thanks a lot Bill." Ash said sincerely

"Like I said some time ago, win the league and I'll be the one thanking you."

"Anyway, I must be going."

"Where do you plan to go?"

"Pewter City."

"You will take the Mt. Moon or the Diglett Cave?"

"I think I'll climb Mt. Moon."

"You have the gear?"

"Gear?"

"Ash, you're climbing a mountain, so I'd suggest you to buy some equipment, don't tell me you were planning to go up like that?" he asked, pointing at Ash's clothes.

"Of course not." Ash said rubbing the back of his head.

"_It seems like I have to do the thing I hate the most…shopping." _Ash thought, shivering

* * *

As Ash finished the so feared act, buying a tent, a stuffed black coat to counter the cold weather, a canteen of water and some ropes in case of need, he was ready to cruise Route 4 and head to the Mt. Moon. However he first decided to use one of the PCs in the Pokémon Center to create his trainer page at the web. He was no big fan of social networks, but after a talk with Bill he decided to do take some time to create a page. It could be useful in the future.

Ash furrowed his brows as he filled in the information, there were some basic questions while some more complex.

"_Is this a trainer profile or a dating website?"_

After some minutes Ash finished filling in the information, he decided to not answer lots of personal questions, but nevertheless he was happy with the results.

"_It's done_,_ I'll check this once in a while."_ Ash thought as he turned the computer off and went towards Route 4 and the Mt. Moon

* * *

Meanwhile in Kalos a notification popped in at Serena's computer. After Leaf told her that both she and Ash started their journey, Serena saw this as an opportunity to support her crush at his dream. She quickly viewed Ash's website page and fought hard to contain her blush at how handsome Ash had become. His profile picture showed him in a crossed arms pose with the Vermilion Harbor as background. His hair was shorter, Serena loved Ash's raven colored bangs falling at his face and she preferred his hair a bit longer, but she wouldn't even dream of complaining. The biggest difference however was his body, Ash Ketchum was ripped, and since he spotted a sleeveless t-shirt Serena could clearly see his definition. Wiping the drool that formed in her mouth she then proceeded to read some of his information.

_NAME: ASH KETCHUM_

_AGE: 14 _

_HOMETOWN: VERMILION CITY_

_OCCUPATION: TRAINER_

_BADGES/RIBBONS: ONE (CASCADE BADGE)_

_HOBBIES: TRAINING POKÉMON, SPORTS (BASKETBALL, SOCCER, BOXING)_

_RELATIONSHIP STATUS: SINGLE_

_FAVORITE COLOR: RED_

_FAVORITE MUSICAL GENRE: RAP_

_CURRENT LINEUP: PIKACHU, SQUIRTLE, MEOWTH, BULBASAUR, CHARMANDER_

_RELATIVES: NONE_

Serena really wished Ash answered more questions as it would give her a better picture of what Ash liked, but she wouldn't complain about what she got. Serena could never imagine Ash was a fan of sports and liked rap for instance. However what caught her attention was the last line '_RELATIVES: NONE',_ while living in Pallet she was sure she met Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, so she had no idea why Ash didn't filled the relatives tab. However the most important of all was that he was single.

She quickly dismissed her thoughts of Delia as she noticed the '0 Followers' number, she decided to be Ash's first. Quickly turning red as she noticed how it sounded, she proceeded to create an account.

"_I can't just straight out put my name there, Ash will think I'm a crazy stalker. I need a codename."_

After some thinking, Ash, in the other half of the world got his first follower in the name of 'Beauty'.

* * *

Ash took a deep breath as he saw the imposing Mt. Moon, the highest mountain in the Kanto Region, and the third in the Kanto-Johto region, losing to Mt. Silver and Mt. Mortar. According to the folklore the meteorite shards that fell on this Mount became the famed Moon Stones. While not particularly fond of those tales, Ash thought it would be nice to obtain a Moon Stone or two as it was known to induce evolution on Nidorino and Nidorina, besides Jigglypuff and Clefairy. The trainer had none of those pokémon, but it was always better to be ready.

Readying himself, Ash started to climb the mountain. Bill told him of a shortcut of sorts, which consisted of climbing towards a series of abandoned tunnels instead of taking the long way through the base of the mountain. Unfortunately it also required a higher degree of physical effort, while Ash was extremely fit it still would most probably cost a toll in his body.

"_I should've gone through the Diglett's Cave_." Ash thought to himself as he saw the height of the mountain.

* * *

Ash was able to make steady progress at his way towards Pewter. His opinion of hikers changed a lot as he saw what they had to go through. The thing about hiking is that, unlike some other sports, such as basketball or soccer, which required a certain degree of physical explosion to properly perform, hiking required endurance and strength as the hiker would be constantly subjecting his body to extenuation.

Ash's vision of a hiker was usually a fat, bearded guy with an enormous backpack, after meeting with some hikers at Mt. Moon he realized that this was a very stereotyped vision. Most of the hikers had some degree of fat mainly to counter the effects of the cold weather they were subjected at higher altitudes. Ash was already shivering midway through the hiking, when a hiker informed that when compared to Mt. Silver in Johto and Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh, Mt. Moon was a piece of cake. However despite the fat the hikers were extremely strong, as Ash noted when one of them crushed his hand when shaking hands.

Despite everything, Ash was able to learn a lot from the hikers. From basic things such as knots, to complex things that he hoped he would never have to use, such as survival in heavy snowstorm. He also was able to battle some of those hikers, thankfully they retorted to using rock types and Squirtle and Bulbasaur were able to easily dispatch them.

About three quarters of the way, Ash was cruising through a cave in order to begin his descent when he spotted a figure he didn't saw for years. Gary Oak.

Gary has spiky brown, reddish hair and wears black pants and a purple long-sleeved shirt. He also had a necklace with a circle pendant, divided in a ying-yang like pattern, with a side being green and the other yellow.

"Gary?"

"Ashy-boy?"

Ash groaned at the nickname, people always seemed to give him nicknames. Gary called him Ashy-boy, the Possum Hole Reds called him Young Smoke, Surge called him Private or sometimes Bomber, due to the bomber jacket he usually wore. How hard was to say Ash anyway? Just three fucking letters he though in exasperation.

"Long time no see, Gary."

"Don't tell me about, last time was five years ago, in Pallet, before you and your mother…" he then stopped talking as he realized he mentioned Delia

Ash noticed this, and gave a small reassuring smile

"It's okay, I got over it." Ash said

Gary then looked at Pikachu, who stood at Ash's shoulder

"Is that a shiny Pikachu?"

"Yes?"

"How did you get a shiny pokémon? There's like a 1 in 4096 chance to get one."

Ash then smiled.

"Sit down, I have a lot to tell."

* * *

Ash spent the next hours telling Gary about his life post Pallet Town, telling him about how he meet Pikachu, his training under Surge, how he befriended his pokémon and his battles.

They also shared intel on the gym leaders pokémon, Ash told Gary about Lily's Gyarados, Daisy's Goldeen and Violet's Seel and in return Gary told him that Brock specializes in rock types and uses a Geodude and a Onix.

Gary then took a Pokéball from his backpack, showing it to Ash.

"Remember this?"

"Is this the pokéball we found fishing?" he asked slightly wide eyed

"Yes, we promised we would decide who would keep it someday, I think today is the best moment to do so."

"Rules?"

"One on One."

"Let's do it." Ash said, getting in position

"Go Squirtle." Gary said, calling his starter

"Squir." The turtle pokémon cried, entering battle instance

"Charmander, I need your help." Ash said, calling the lizard pokémon

"Char! Char!" the fire type cried enthusiastically

"A fire type? What you're planning Ashy-boy?"

"You'll see soon enough."

"Squirtle, use Bubble."

"Counter it with Ember." Ash commanded

The attacks clashed, exploding and generating steam which partially covered the field.

Deciding to build up a defense before going on the offensive, he resorted to diminishing Squirtle's accuracy.

"Charmander, use Smokescreen."

"Use Rapid Spin to counter it."

The turtle used the momentum of the spin to dispel the smoke, landing a hit on Charmander.

"Char…" the lizard pokémon groaned in pain

"Keep your head up Charmander. I promise I won't let that happen again."

"Squirtle, use Tackle."

The turtle pokémon dashed forward, running at Ash's pokémon.

"Use Growl to stop his momentum, then counter with Scratch."

The lizard pokémon nodded, gazing fiercely at the amphibious pokémon who was charging at him. The growl attack didn't stopped the turtle, but it slowed him a bit as it cringed at Charmander's cry, it gave the opening Charmander needed to land a hit straight at Squirtle's head, sending the water type tumbling backwards.

Squirtle got up, shining with a blue aura, his burgundy eyes turning blue.

"Torrent…" both trainers muttered in unison

"Great, it's all we needed." Gary exclaimed. "Charge your most powerful Water Gun."

The turtle readied his attack as Ash analyzed the situation.

"_If this attack lands Charmander will lose, unfortunately while Squirtle's Torrent activated, Charmander's HP hasn't lowered enough to trigger Blaze… on the bright side if I land just another attack, Squirtle will faint. Charmander won't be able to get into his defenses so easily, so there's just a thing to do, force a stalemate."_

"Charmander, charge your strongest Dragon Rage."

As both pokémon looked ready to fire their attacks, a loud explosion was heard, followed by a pinkish pokémon entering the makeshift battlefield.

"_A Clefairy?" _

"Cancel the attack." Both trainers said in unison.

"Looks like our battle will have to be postponed." Ash noted as three figures approached the duo, following the Clefairy.

The first figure spotted an all-black outfit with a Red 'R' and ablack cap. The other two figures wore white outfits with the 'R' printed at their belly area and had a walking Meowth.

The man has a blue hair and green eyes, while the female spotted magenta hair at waist length and blue eyes.

"_Team… I'm gonna remember, it starts with R and is a NBA team… Team Raptors, that's it."_

"Gary handle the black one, I'll take on the duo." Ash said, getting a nod from the trainer.

As soon as Ash glanced at the duo they got into a dramatic pose.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

Ash sweatdropped at the trio's antics.

"I have lots of questions…how you keep changing the background?" Ash said pointing to the rock with a 'R' carved behind that literally appeared out of the nowhere in the trio introduction. "Where did you take that rose from?" Ash then asked pointing to the rose at James's hand. "And finally… DID THAT MEOWTH JUST TALK?"

"Special effects, I have a rose pouch and yes, Meowth can talk." James said.

"I see…"

"Now, get out of the way so we can get our hands in that Clefairy." Jesse said.

"Sorry, but this won't happen. Pikachu, show them who's boss." Ash replied

"Twerp." Jesse said, throwing a pokéball

"You leave us no choice." James said, throwing another pokéball.

The two pokéballs opened, revealing an Ekans and a Koffing.

"Two on one? Not the fair types huh?"

"Pikachu, I'll give you an extra bottle of Ketchup if you defeat the two of them at the same time.

Pikachu cried in enthusiasm, before glaring at Ekans and Koffing.

"Pika Pika Pikachu, Pikachu." (_Nobody gets on my way when ketchup is involved_) Pikachu cried fiercely.

The Rocket duo used all kinds of tricks in an attempt to land a hit on Pikachu, but the rodent used his speed to avoid these attempts, before finishing the duo with a combination of Electroweb and Thundershock.

"I'd surrender now." Ash said with a smirk

"Never." Jessie said. "Go fight, Meowth."

"Me?" the cat pokémon asked incredulously

"We need to complete the mission." James said.

Meowth then sighed, getting in battle stance.

"I'll make it fair." Ash said. "Pikachu, rest now, you'll get your ketchup when we get into Pewter, Meowth lend me your help."

The pokéball revealed Ash's Meowth as he glared at Team Rocket's Meowth.

"Fury Swipes." Ash said, while Tea Meowth used his own Fury Swipes attack to counter it.

"Bite." Ash commanded, while Team Rocket's Meowth once again countered the attack with his own bite attack.

"Damnit. Screech." Ash said, while Team Rocket's Meowth used his own screech to nullify Ash's command.

"_Really a copycat." _He thought

"I can do this all day." Meowth said mockingly, earning a glare from Ash's Meowth.

Ash's Meowth was pissed beyond limits, how dared he to taunt him and his trainer, so he gave in to his instincts. He crossed his arms, and focused energy at the Amulet coin in his forehead, causing it glow, launching a barrage of coins at Team Rocket's Meowth.

"Payday?" Ash asked in disbelief

"Shit." Meowth said, being hit by the attack.

"Great job Meowth." Ash praised his cat pokémon.

The praise was everything Meowth needed, his trainer, and friend trusted him, and that was all that mattered. The catalyst had been used. Meowth then was enveloped by a white energy, as he changed forms.

A few moments later the glow stopped, revealing the newly evolved Persian. Persian is a large, quadruped, feline Pokémon. Its fur is pale tan with the exception of its black-rimmed ears. It has a short muzzle with a small, black nose, red eyes with slit pupils, rounded ears, a pair of pointed teeth in its upper jaw, and three whiskers on either side of its face.

"Persian, ready to finish this?" Ash asked getting a nod from his pokémon.

"Blast them off with a full powered Payday."

The feline then fired a powerful blast of coins from the ruby in his forehead, hitting the rocket trio and the soldier who was battling Gary.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they said in unison, before disappearing in a twinkle.

"I could've handled them you know?" Gary asked

"I know, but I Pikachu and Meowth, I mean Persian, to get more battle experience." Ash explained

Gary huffed. "I believe we still have a battle."

"You're right."

As the trainers got into their respective positions, readying their pokéballs, another pink figure appeared, a Jigglypuff.

"Jigglypuff?" both trainers asked in confusion.

The pink pokémon then took a microphone and started to sing, causing Ash and Gary to fall asleep.

* * *

Ash yawned lazily as he woke up, glancing around he saw Gary do the same. What caught Ash's attention however, were the doodles in Gary's face. Ash gasped as Gary did the same.

"He doodled on my face too right?" both asked in unison.

"I have a mirror Gary said, drawing a mirror from his pocket."

The duo finally saw their doodled faces, courtesy of Jigglypuff.

Gary's markings were a pair of googles and a marking on his left face that strongly resembled a penis.

Ash's markings were some whiskers in his cheeks while a small moustache was drawn in his face, Ash didn't realized but the moustache pattern emulated the one from a certain guy, who caused the WWII.

Gary then started to snicker, earning a glare from Ash.

"What you're laughing at, dickface?"

"Nothing, _mein führer." _

Both teens looked at the mirror and at each other, gapping at the drawings.

"Squirtle, use water gun on me." Both teens said in unison, calling their respective pokémon

As the duo finally cleaned their faces, they turned to each other.

"This can't leave this place." Ash said

"We agree that nobody can ever know that this happened." Gary concluded

"You know what? Let's split the ball in a half anyway, the sooner we got out of here the better." Ash proposed, getting a nod from Gary.

Gary then handled the ball to Ash, who used a knife to split it in a half.

"Good luck at Cerulean." the trainer from Vermilion said

"Good luck at Pewter." The grandson of Samuel Oak responded

* * *

In opposition to the uphill Route 4, Ash was a lot faster now that he was going downhill. Ash decided to rest at a Pokémon Center at the base of Mt. Moon, so he arrived at Pewter at the early morning, if things went well he could leave the town in two days max.

As he entered the city he saw a tall man approaching, the man has tanned skin and a full grown beard. He wears a red cap, covering his forehead and a part of his eyes.

"_Shit, I'm going to be robbed."_

"I'm not going to rob you." The man said as he approached Ash.

Ash let out a sigh of relief, before addressing the man.

"I never said you were going to rob me."

"But you thought so."

"Can't say I hadn't." the trainer admitted

"I assume you're a trainer and you're going to challenge the Pewter Gym."

"Yes."

"Do you know the rules?"

"Two pokémon each, single battle."

"And which pokémon do you want to use?"

"I'll use Charmander and Persian."

"Two pokémon with weakness against rock types." The man said

"Type matchups aren't everything, plus I still have some tricks up my sleeve. I fully trust my pokémon capability to win. "

"I really doubt that, Brock is one of the best trainers in Kanto."

"And who are you? His father?"

"No." the man blurted out quickly. "My name is Flint and I sell rocks and teach pokémon rock type moves."

"Nice, what kind of rocks?"

"Regular rocks, Pewter is known for its Stone Quarry." Flint said pointing to a quarry on the on a cliff

"Cool, I guess. You mentioned you teach some rock type moves… what's the fee?"

"Usually I ask for shards, they're very popular nowadays, but I'm willing to teach a rock move for free to one of your pokémon if you beat my Graveler."

"Sounds good to me. Charmander, get ready to rumble" Ash said as he called his fire pokémon.

"You're really using a fire type against a Ground/Rock type?" Flint asked

"It'll be a good measure of how ready Charmander is to fight at Pewter Gym."

"If you insist… Go, Graveler." Flint said, calling his pokémon

"Let's start smart Charmander, use Smokescreen."

The lizard pokémon then expelled smoke form his mouth covering the entire battlefield.

"Covering the battlefield in smoke to take advantage of rock type moves low accuracy, wise strategy, however it is still bound to fail. Graveler, shake things up with Bulldoze."

"Leap and use Dragon Rage at the center of the field, Graveler can't move when he's performing this attack."

The starter quickly leapt above, barely avoiding the attack and firing a Dragon Rage attack at Graveler.

Flint gritted his teeth as the move connected to his Graveler.

"Don't think you've won yet, Rock type pokémon defenses are what make them stand out from the rest."

"Graveler, use Defense Curl, then use a standing Rollout to clear this damn smoke."

The rock type nodded, curling and rolling at the same place, slowly clearing the smoke.

"Charmander, Dragon Rage once again."

The lizard pokémon fired the attack at the rolling Graveler. The move apparently didn't affect the rock type a single bit as he kept rolling.

"Don't get cocky boy, there's no way to pierce through Graveler's stellar defenses. Now your defenses are open. Crush him, Graveler."

The rolling pokémon then took the direction of Charmander.

"Keep calm Charmander, step aside in the last second."

The fire starter nodded, sidestepping the attack, causing Graveler to crash against a wall. The rolling stopped and Graveler had spirals in his eyes.

"Impossible." Flint said

"You got cocky." Ash said teasingly

Flint sighed, he knew that he was beaten, but a question still lingered on his mind.

"How?"

"I agree with you, there was no way for Charmander to pierce through Graveler defenses, not at this point anyway, so instead of piercing through I just got around." Ash explained

Flint then had a look of realization as he facepalmed.

"Dragon Rage."

"Yes, Dragon Rage doesn't take attack and defense at his damage calculation, instead dealing straight constant damage at the opponent's HP. A very useful tool for pre evolved pokémon as they usually don't have that much strength yet."

"I must admit, you got me good there." Flint said laughing. "Now a promise is a promise, do you have a TM case?"

"I do."

"Then take those two as a reward for teaching this old man a lesson." Flint said, handling Ash two CDs with a shiny brownish to yellow color.

"Those are the TMs for Rock Slide and Ancient Power. Rock Slide is powerful physical move that can cause flinching status to the opponent should it hit. Ancient Power is one of the two rock type attacks which use special stats, the other being Power Gem, it has average power but has a small chance of raising all the user's stats at once by one stage. However it has limited usage, the maximum I think you can use this move without having your pokémon to rest is five times."

"Sweet." Ash said as he stored the TMs at the TM case.

When he turned to thank Flint he wasn't there anymore

* * *

Ash then headed to the Pokémon center in order to restore his Charmander. As he left the center he could finally pay attention to the layout of the city. Pewter was a fairly large city, with lots of apartment buildings, from downtown Pewter you could clearly see both Mt. Moon and the peak of Mt. Silver. If you took went north from Pewter, through the mountain range, you would end up at the small independent Kingdom of Rota, home of the ancient Aura Guardians.

"_I should probably call Leaf, I promised to meet her anyway…" _Ash though absently minded, before he spotted a girl with brown hair and white hat.

"Hey Leaf." Ash called as the girl turned around, spotting a smile as she saw Ash

"Ash." The girl said hugging him

"I was going to call you…" Ash began to say before being interrupted by a girlish squeal.

"SO…CUTE." Leaf said as she hugged Ash's Pikachu, who looked ready to murder her.

Ash sighed, giving him a '_don't shock her and I'll give you free ketchup_' look to Pikachu, who responded Ash with a '_make it double_' look, causing Ash to nod.

"So Ash, I wanted to see if you wanted to join me."

"Join you for what?"

"Shopping of course." Leaf said smiling

Ash paled at these words

"_God have mercy on my soul." _He thought as he was being dragged by Leaf

* * *

Despite being used as a pack donkey by Leaf, Ash enjoyed the shopping because Leaf offered to pay him a meal. Considering Ash started his journey a month ago and since then his diet consisted only of canned food, he wouldn't be idiot to refuse a good, free meal, even if it meant going through hell, or worse, shopping. As they sat down at a small restaurant, they talked about their journey so far, with Ash being sensitive enough to not mention the aftermath of the Cerulean battle.

Leaf told Ash that she still didn't made her mind about what path to choose, as she saw herself unable to decide if she wanted to compete at the league or just travel around.

"If you want you can watch my battle against Brock, to see if you really want to try battling." Ash suggested

"It would be great." Leaf beamed

As they left the restaurant and headed towards the gym, Ash felt someone tapping at his shoulder.

He turned to see a girl long waist length pink hair and blue eyes. She wears a light brown coat, tied with a red belt and a burgundy skirt. The girl seemed to be a year or two older than Ash.

"Excuse me, but can I battle against your Pikachu?" the girl asked politely

"Yes, but can I ask why Pikachu specifically?"

"Because he's shiny." The girl explained

"You know shiny pokémon aren't stronger than their normal counterparts right?"

"Yes, but I'd like to see how it performs in battle, I'm a rookie coordinator, so a shiny is a rare commodity at our circle."

"Coordinator, so you're not from Kanto?"

"No, I'm from Pewter actually." The girl explained

"But there are no contests in Kanto." Leaf interjected

"There's an experimental project to instate Contests in Kanto." The girl said. "For the time it's still at an amateur level, mainly small showcases at minor towns. But Mr. Contesta himself stated that he planned to bring contests to Kanto."

"What do you mean by experimental project?" Leaf inquired

"There's very little budget, so the Contest Circuit will be held in small towns as opposed to Hoenn and Sinnoh, where they're held in big cities. The finals will probably be held in Saffron or even as a preliminary of the Pokémon League. Also there's little media coverage, but it's still interesting." The pink haired coordinator explained

"Well, I had no idea that there was something like that in Kanto." Ash admitted

"Hopefully the project will be a success and soon Kanto will fully fledged Contest Halls."

"Yes, it will be good for the region. Now I believe I promised you a battle, miss …" Ash said, turning to the girl

"Solidad." The girl said.

"Can I watch the battle?" Leaf asked

"I'm fine with it, what about you Solidad?"

"No problems."

"Before we start I must say that I don't have the slightest idea of how to perform contest moves, so I'm afraid I'll have to fight using my regular strategies, would there be a problem with this?" Ash asked trying to sound polite and respectful, whilst several of his early run ins whether with the Trainer's school or with the hikers proved stereotypes were more often than once useless, he couldn't shake the image of a coordinator being classy, so he tried to keep things polite.

"It's no problem." Solidad said reassuringly. "It'll be a good test to see how a trainer fights."

"Let's begin then." Ash said as they reached an empty alleyway where they wouldn't be disturbed. "Pikachu, I'm counting on you." He said as the rodent leapt from his shoulder

"Go, Pidgeotto." Solidad called, revealing her pokémon.

Pidgeotto is a raptor-like Pokémon. It is covered with brown feathers, and has a cream-colored face, underside, and flight feathers. It has a crest of pinkish-red feathers on its head and black, angular markings behind its eyes. The plumage of its tail has alternating red and yellow feathers with ragged tips. Its beak and legs are pink. Two of its toes point forward, while one points backward.

"_I have the advantage here, but I doubt Solidad will make things easier for us."_

"_Better start with a feint." _Ash concluded

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack."

The rodent dashed towards the avian pokémon, readying an attack.

"Evade this with an airborne pirouette." Solidad commanded.

Pidgeotto then did a beautiful pirouette to avoid Pikachu's strike.

"Pikachu, don't give up, use Quick Attack once again."

The rodent once again quickly gained momentum using the narrow walls as platforms, dashing towards the flying type.

"Let's tire him out, evade it with a pirouette." Solidad ordered

As soon as Pidgeotto left the ground Ash grinned.

"Use your momentum to leap towards Pidgeotto and hit him with Slam."

Pikachu did as asked of him getting at Pidgeotto's face, before grinning wickedly. The electric type then spun around in a pirouette, before using his tail to Slam Pidgeotto to the ground.

"Pidgeotto." Solidad cried in concern

The flying type slowly got up, readying himself for battle once again.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock."

"Pidgeotto, use Feather Dance to deflect the attack."

Pidgeotto then opened his wings, launching a flurry of white colored feathers towards Pikachu's attack, dispelling it.

"Great use of this move to dispel Pikachu's attack." Ash complimented

"Thanks." Solidad said with an almost unnoticeable blush.

"However, don't think even for a moment that you've won this battle." Ash said in a serious tone

"Quick attack." The Vermilion City trainer commanded

"Use Double Team to confuse him." Solidad said

Pikachu and Ash smirked at the same time.

"You fell onto our trap, it's over. Pikachu, use Electroweb."

The rodent then fired a large Electroweb, hitting several of the Pidgeotto duplicates, including the original, tying him to the ground.

"There's no way for Pidgeotto to escape this." Ash said in an advisory tone. "Please recall your pokémon, the battle is over."

Solidad looked indecisive for a moment before sighing and recalling Pidgeotto.

"Thank you." She muttered as she held the pokéball.

Ash then walked towards her, offering his hand in a handshake.

"This was a good battle, I learned a lot and should this was a contest battle you'd have won for sure."

Solidad smiled, shaking Ash's hand.

"Your Pikachu is excellent, also your tactics using Quick Attack to build momentum really caused me lots of trouble."

"In the end we both learned something and that's all that matters."

"That was amazing." Leaf said as she joined the duo

"What's your take on contest battles?" Ash asked

"It's interesting, but I still want to see your battle with Brock to make up my mind."

"You're challenging Brock?" Solidad asked

"Yes."

"Can I tag along and watch the battle? Brock is highly regarded here and I'm eager to see more of your tactics."

"Sure, the more the merrier. You know the way towards the gym?" Ash asked

"Yes, follow me."

* * *

The Pewter Gym was large stone building at the outskirts of the town. Behind the gym there was a large house, with white painted walls and pink roof. Ash opened the door to the gym allowing the two girls to go ahead of him, chivalry wasn't dead. He then was greeted by a boy slightly younger than Ash with tanned skin, spiky brown hair and squinted eyes.

"Hi, welcome to the Pewter Gym."

"Hi." Ash greeted "I'd like to challenge the leader for a battle, is that possible?" the trainer asked politely.

"Brock is a bit busy taking care of his siblings, could you wait thirty minutes?"

"Sure, tell him to don't hurry, I've got time." Ash said as the youngster nodded

The Vermilion trainer then looked at Solidad with a quizzical look.

The rookie coordinator caught the meaning of the look.

"Brock has nine siblings, the one that greeted us was the oldest beside Brock himself, Forrest if I'm not mistaken."

"I see … anything else I should know?"

"Both his parents left in order to pursue their own goals, leaving Brock alone to care for his siblings."

"Rough shit…" Ash commented

The conversation died down as Ash analyzed the battlefield. The main field consisted of several rocks and boulders, giving Rock types the perfect environment to perform.

"Ash, which pokémon are you going to use?" Leaf asked

"I've heard this is a two-on-two battle, so I'm planning on using Charmander and Persian."

"But both of those can't damage Rock types." Leaf argued

"Type matchups aren't everything, earlier today I defeated a Graveler using Charmander, and also today, Solidad here almost got the best of Pikachu using a flying type."

The trio then chattered for some minutes until a figure appeared.

"Thanks for waiting, I'm the gym leader, Brock." The man said

Brock appeared to be seventeen years older, maybe a year more or less. He was very similar to his sibling Forrest, being an aged version of him, with spiky brown hair, tanned skin and squinted eyes. He wears a brown pants and an orange t-shirt, covered by a green vest.

"I assume you're the challenger." Brock said as he glanced at Ash, then turning to the two girls who were beside him. "And those are your girlfriends." The leader said with a lecherous grin

Solidad's blush matched the color of her hair, while Leaf yelled promptly.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND."

While Leaf had to admit that Ash was absolutely handsome and a great friend, she only saw him as that, a friend. She had a pretty good idea about Serena's crush on him and this made Ash definitively off limits for her. Truth to be told her affections leaned towards someone else…

Ash sweatdropped at Leaf's outburst, being distracted enough to not notice Solidad's blush.

"Anyway, I'm Ash Ketchum from Vermilion City and I'd like to challenge you for this gym badge."

"Very well, then. Here we do two on two single battles, only the challenger is allowed to switch pokémon." Brock said.

The leader then turned to Forrest, who just entered the gym with another eight carbon copies of Brock.

"Forrest, can you officiate for me?"

"Sure."

"This will be an official gym battle between gym leader Brock Harrison and challenger Ash Ketchum from Vermilion City. Each trainer will have two pokémon and only the challenger is allowed to change pokémon mid battle. Trainers, send out your first pokémon."

"Geodude, I need your help." Brock said as he called his first pokémon.

"Geo, geo, Geodude." The pokémon cried

Geodude is a gray boulder Pokémon. It has bulging, rocky eyebrows and trapezoidal, brown eyes. Its arms are muscular with five-fingered hands.

"_Graveler's pre-evolution, so let's stick with the previous tactic." _

"Charmander, I choose you."

"CHAR!' The lizard starter roared in excitement

"Begin." Forrest said as the two pokémon took battle stances

"Geodude, use Defense Curl."

"_The same setup Flint used earlier, Defense Curl to enhance Geodude's defense before using a combo with Rollout." _Ash noted

"Charmander, fire a quick Dragon Rage."

The lizard nodded, being already familiarized with Ash's strategies, firing a strong attack at Geodude.

Geodude, who embraced himself, felt lots of pain as the attack landed, surprising him and Brock.

"Hold on Geodude, use Rollout." Brock commanded quickly

"Charmander, use Smokescreen as coverage and hide between the rocks."

The fire type let out a smoky breath, quickly taking cover

Geodude, unable to see due to the momentum and the smoke, just rolled around, waiting for any commands from Brock.

Brock then had the same idea Flint had earlier.

"Roll at the same place to dispel the smoke."

"No you don't, Charmander finish this with another Dragon Rage." Ash yelled

The starter the leapt from his hiding spot, firing the blue purplish beam straight at the rock type, who upon being hit stopped rolling immediately, laying at the ground with swirls in his eyes.

Brock recalled his pokémon before smirking.

"I see your strategy now, using Dragon Rage to cause the constant damage as a way to surpass my Rock types strong defenses." The leader said, before taking another pokéball.

"I won't allow this to happen twice, go Onix."

Onix is a snake like pokémon with his body being composed by rock chains.

Ash was about to recall Charmander to send Persian but the fire type roared, as a way to show he still had a lot energy to burn and wanted to continue.

"You're sure of this, Charmander?" Ash asked, getting a nod from the fire type.

"Begin."

"Onix, use Rock Tomb."

Several of the smaller rocks, alongside few of the larger ones, on the battlefield were launched towards Charmander.

"Charmander, use the bigger stones as a platform to leap above him and fire a Dragon Rage." Ash commanded

Swiftly jumping from the slowly approaching rocks, Charmander gave a roar as he opened his mouth to launch the attack.

"Onix, use your tail to Slam him to the ground." Brock commanded

The giant rock pokémon then did a spin to send his tail towards Charmander, who was unable to avoid the attack midair, sending him colliding onto the jagged rocks.

"Charmander." Ash yelled in concern

The crash created a large dust cloud, when it cleared Charmander stood still, with several bruises, but his will to battle wasn't affected.

Ash, after seeing that Charmander still wished to fight developed a strategy on the fly.

"_Dragon Rage needs a small amount of time to prepare, and Brock is basing his strategy in taking this time out of us. The only reasonable way to win this is to pierce his defenses or tire him out. His defenses are almost untouchable, but his attack…"_ Ash thought with a almost unnoticeable smirk.

"Onix, finish this with Tackle."

"Charmander, stay still."

Most of pokémon would question his trainer's orders at this situation, but Charmander was different. His loyalty to Ash was unrivaled, he'd go to the depths of hell if it meant being with his trainer, his friend. So he did as asked, glaring at the approaching Onix.

As the Onix approached, Ash inhaled deeply.

"_Here goes nothing."_

"Sidestep and use Ember."

Charmander, in complete sync with Ash executed his commands instantly, exhaling a small fireball that connected at Onix body. The rock type seemed unaffected however.

"Good job Charmander, let's keep at it."

* * *

In the stands, Brock's siblings, Leaf and Solidad seemed confused. The sibling, who cheered loudly for Brock started to say that Ash was a dumb trainer and that Charmander defeating Geodude was a lucky break. They were promptly silenced by glares from Solidad and Leaf, but Ash's childhood friend still turned to whisper at Solidad's ear.

"What is Ash doing?"

"I don't know." Was the sincere response of the coordinator.

Solidad then glanced at the raven haired boy ever confident expression

"_What are you planning, Ash?"_

* * *

Brock looked at the scene emotionlessly. While he wasn't surprised by Onix being unaffected by Charmander's attack, he knew Ash did have a plan, and he wasn't willing to give him any openings.

"Onix, use Rock Tomb."

The free rocks slowly levitated, launching towards Ash's pokémon.

"The same as before, use the rocks as a walkway." Ash commanded

Charmander nodded, using the bigger rocks as a pathway.

"I won't let you, Onix, Slam him when he's above you."

Ash smirked.

"And who said he's going to be above? Charmander, jump under him and fire Embers at will."

Instead of leaping at the air the small lizard jumped in front of Onix. Due to the size difference, Onix could barely see the small fire type, and couldn't coil his rigid body faster, being subjected to a nonstop barrage of small embers burning his body.

Since Charmander adopted a gun and run strategy, he managed to connect five or six attacks at the rock type, who still seemed unaffected.

Onix finally managed to maneuver his own body standing face to face with Charmander.

Ash held a breath.

"_Now or never."_

Suddenly Onix's body started to glow a faint shade of red, making a burning sound.

* * *

Solidad who intently admired the battle and Ash's strategies suddenly got up her seat with a smile.

"Ash just won this battle." She exclaimed getting confused looks from Leaf and Brock's siblings.

"How?" the group asked in unison, before it dawned at Leaf too.

"Ash burned Onix." she concluded

"Burning causes steady damage to the opposing pokémon besides halving its attack. Due to those combined effects even if Onix manages to defeat Charmander, he'll be knocked out by the status condition before it defeats Ash's other pokémon." Solidad elaborated further to Brock's siblings who seemed a bit upset at their brother loss.

* * *

"I've fallen at your trap." Brock admitted, before looking straight at Ash's eyes. "I know when to admit defeat." He said as he took Onix's pokéball.

"Brock, could I please ask you to not call the battle off?" the Vermilion trainer asked, surprising everyone present

"Why?"

"This has been the most challenging battle I had since I started my journey, it would be a shame if it ended without a clear winner. Besides, both Charmander and Onix seem to be determined to win this one, it became a sort of personal battle for them." Ash explained, gazing at Onix and Charmander who ignored everything around them focused only at the ongoing match.

Brock seemed to notice the atmosphere too, nodding in approval.

"Onix let's show our rock hard determination." Brock said, earning a roar of approval from the rock type.

"Charmander, let's show them the power of our bond." Ash said, deciding to hype up his pokémon

Charmander, instead of roaring in approval like Onix did, became enveloped in a bright white light.

His body grew as a whole, almost doubling his height. His digits in both feet and arms developed into three white claws. He developed a snout and a horn prototype at the top of his head. His orange body turned into a vibrant red, while his cream colored belly became slightly darker. His tail also grew in size, and the fire in its end burned stronger than ever.

"Char!" the newly evolved pokémon roared as he contemplated the changes to his body, giving an approving nod.

"Charmeleon…" Ash muttered.

Charmeleon then looked at Ash, nodding at him, they had a battle to finish.

"Onix, show our worth with Dig." Brock commanded as his pokémon disappeared underground.

Meanwhile Ash gazed at Charmeleon, particularly his claws which shined a metallic shade of white.

"_Could it be?"_

He then, refocused his attention to the battle.

"Charmeleon, jump atop the highest rock you see."

The newly evolved fire type did as asked, standing atop the highest rock on the battlefield, his claw still glowing white. As the ground started to tremble, he heard his trainer's voice once again.

"He's coming for us, jump above….NOW." Ash yelled as Onix's head erupted off the ground.

The evolved lizard then leapt higher than he ever did, propelled by his stronger legs. However Onix's body was quickly approaching and closing distance as he emerged from the ground.

"Charmeleon, spin and use Metal Claw to repel Onix."

"Onix, Slam him with your tail." Brock commanded

Charmeleon's spin got him out of Onix's head way, but as he connected the blow at the right side of the rock type face he also felt the opponent's tail slamming him to the ground.

Both pokémon were sent crashing towards opposite sides of the field, as the trainers and the audience held their breaths to see who won. The two pokémon bravely got up, staring down at each other. Charmeleon then let out a grunt of pain, standing at one knee. Onix then gave the lizard a weak smile, before the burn took the tool in his body as he fell to the ground.

"W-Winner is Ash Ketchum of Vermilion City." Forrest said as the crowd clapped and cheered loudly at the amazing battle they watched.

The trainers recalled their pokémon, before meeting at the center of the battlefield.

"Thanks for the battle." Ash said as he shook Brock's hand

"This was the most interesting battle I had in a while, so I also have to thank you."

Forrest then approached with a red cushion with a metallic item atop of it.

Brock nodded, taking the item and offering it to Ash.

"Your Charmeleon's powerful attacks overcame my rock-hard resistance... You're stronger than I expected... Go ahead, take this Boulder Badge."

The Boulder Badge was a octagon shaped metallic badge, with the shape of a rock, Ash nodded in acceptance, opening his badge case, storing it beside the Cascade badge he got in Cerulean.

Leaf and Solidad quickly rushed behind Ash. Leaf hugged him first, congratulating him for the win and praising his battling skills before releasing the hug. Solidad however said nothing, hugging tightly and much longer than Leaf, when he released she had a big blush. Brock who stood watching the scene from the sidelines gave an approving nod.

As the trio was leaving the gym, escorted by Brock, Leaf turned to Ash.

"In which hotel you're staying?"

"Hotel? Like hell I'd spend my money in one, I'm staying at the Pokémon Center."

"Ash, you don't know?" Leaf asked surprised

"Don't know what?"

"There's an annual festival being held in Rota, north of here." Solidad explained

"Pewter being the closest city has record occupancy rate at the hotels and the pokémon center." Brock further developed

"I guess I'll have to check in into a cheap one then." Ash said

"Things aren't as easy as you say, most of the city's hotels are full, if I'm not mistaken only four and five star hotels still had available rooms." Brock said

"Like hell I will spend my money in an overly luxurious place just to sleep there." Ash yelled angrily. "You know what, I'm camping tonight."

Solidad looked in a deep dilemma, while Leaf accused Ash of being stingy.

Brock then interceded.

"I have some free rooms at my house, I have no problems with you staying here for a night, besides I'm sure the young ones loved petting your Pikachu.

The rodent who for the most of the time during the battle had hidden himself at Ash's bag in order to avoid the before mentioned pettings looked at Ash fearfully. Ash just grinned at the rodent before turning to Brock.

"Pikachu would love to play with your siblings." Ash said as Pikachu cursed Ash's relatives in Pikaspeech.

* * *

Ash quickly retreated himself to the room Brock provided him, but was unable to sleep. His restlessness could be explained by the exciting battle he had earlier, or the fear of Pikachu's revenge, the latter being most likely. Ash then wandered around the house, it was 23:00 hours and most of Brock's siblings already were asleep. Ash then looked at the backyard, noticing a basketball hoop. He slowly walked towards it.

Ash has a deep love for sports, mainly basketball and soccer, but also was a fan of football and boxing. Basketball was his favorite however. He was introduced to the game by Lt. Surge, who standing at 7'4" (2.24 m) and being born at the birthplace of the sport had everything to be a big fan, a thing he in fact was. During his two years of training under the 'The Lightning American' he had a weekly game of Basketball against the leader, the current score was 95-0 in favor of Surge. Despite his constant defeats Ash grew to like the sport, constantly watching NBA games during his free time. He also was his middle school basketball team superstar Shooting Guard and even received several scholarship offers from some prestigious prep schools to play for their teams in high school. Ultimately Ash refused them in order to go to a journey as a trainer. But should his journey fail, Ash knew he has a steady future in basketball.

"You play?" came a voice from behind him

Ash turned his head to see Brock holding a basketball.

The trainer then grinned.

"12 or 21?"

"I still can't believe you scored on me using a euro step." Brock commented as he and Ash were sitting at a wooden bench beside the half court.

Despite Brock's resistance and height advantage, Ash was able to claim the victory in basketball too, wining 21-18.

"What can I say? I got game." Ash joked as he drank water from a bottle.

"Now, for the truly important matters." Brock said with a serious tone. "Solidad had grown particularly fond of you." The gym leader said with a grin.

"As a friend, right?"

"I know Solidad for some time, when she got her first pokémon she came here often looking for tips. She was always the deadly serious type, suddenly Mr. Pretty Boy there" Brock said as he pointed at Ash. "appears and poor Solidad is blushing like mad and hugging you. I'm telling you right now, she wants The Pipe."

"The Pipe?" Ash asked with a doubtful look and slightly frowning at the choice of words

"Yep, The Pipe." Brock said reassuringly

Then Ash's phone suddenly began to rang. The trainer quickly picked it up, excusing himself.

Brock watched from the sidelines as Ash talked at the phone.

"Hello, this is Ash Ketchum."

…

"Tomorrow?"

…

"Sure." The trainer from Vermilion said as he hung up the phone

"Let me guess, Solidad." Brock said

"She asked if I wanted to meet her at the Pewter Museum of Science tomorrow." Ash explained

"Like I said…"

"I know… she wants The Pipe." Ash said sighing

"You're fast learner." Brock said grinning

"And you bro? Has anyone special?" Ash asked, trying to make a conversation

"I have a dream, to claim the hat. Blue or pink, doesn't matter." Brock said

"Hat?"

"Oh, rookie you still have lots to learn." Brock said dramatically

"The hat is the name to the achievement of having sex with every gym town's Nurse Joy, in this case the pink hat or Officer Jenny, in this case blue hat."

Ash looked at Brock with a dumbfounded expression, which could be translate as:

'_I'm disgusted, but curious.'_

But he quickly pushed these thoughts aside.

"No girlfriend here in Pewter?"

"I don't have time for this." Brock said seriously, while his voice carried a tone of… sadness?

Seeing where this was going Ash quickly interceded.

"Solidad told us about your backstory, of your parents leaving to pursue their own goals while you needed to stay behind and care for the rest of the siblings besides acting as a gym leader."

"I'm not complaining, but it feels so…" Brock begun

"…tiresome." Ash concluded, surprising Brock.

"It's like you're constantly forsaking your happiness for the sake of the others who are important for you. You want to stay mad because you're stuck in the same place, carrying the burden for the others, but I the other hand you can't because the ones you care depend of you and most of the times didn't asked to be put at this position." Ash explained, furtherly surprising Brock.

"How do you know?" Brock asked

"When I was eight… my mother… was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, bone cancer, and I had to take care of her. Never heard of my father, hope the coward is dead." Ash said with unusual rage. "It was hard, eight years old man, I wasn't even in the age to take care of myself and suddenly I had to tend to my mother too. Suddenly there was no time for anything else, I almost failed school for absence, there was no time to cartoons or for fun. I felt anger too, my mother was the kindest person I've met and she was slowly dying in my front. She could've been healed if we had money to pay for an experimental treatment, but we were poor as shit." Ash said emotionally

"People who say money doesn't buy happiness are dead wrong, everything depends on money, and sadly we had none. Lots of things pissed me at that time, the lack of money, my life becoming shit, my mother and only relative dying…but what pissed me the most was my mother saddened expression, as if begging me for forgiveness for caring for her. Some of her last words to me were spent on apologies, and that was the most unfair thing I've ever witnessed. I hope I never have cancer, because it looks like it hurts like hell, there were time were my mother couldn't even sleep due to the pain. But worse than being slowly eaten from inside from a cancer is to be slowly eaten from inside by guilty." Ash concluded as a lone tear fell from his eyes.

"Ash…" Brock muttered in concern.

In return Ash just smiled at him.

"Thanks, Brock, the psychologist always told me it would be good if I opened up, he was right at the end."

"I never told anyone of this, not even Leaf or Surge, who were the closest persons to me."

In fact Ash didn't bother to tell them because he knew Leaf would pity him and Surge had his own inner demons to face.

"I don't know why I said everything to you, probably because I see you in the same situation I was six years ago."

"Thanks for trusting me." Was all Brock could say

"Don't thank me, instead tell me of your problems, let's even things up."

Brock took a deep breath, this was going to be a long night.

Unknown to the duo, a lone figure watched them from afar, a lone tear sliding from his eye as he heard Brock talking to Ash.

"_My son, you've suffered so much, I'm so sorry."_

* * *

After waking up, Ash quickly dialed Leaf's number to see if she had already made a decision. Apparently, after witnessing both contest and gym matches, she decided to search the web for videos of the Pokémon League finals and some of the Grand Festivals held in Sinnoh and Hoenn. Surprisingly her decision came after she saw some of the performances of a coordinator in the 1992 Sinnoh Grand Festival. Berlitz, Johanna Berlitz, if Ash recalled correctly. So Leaf decided to sign in to participate at Kanto amateur festival.

Ash then went towards the Pewter Museum of Science and his date with Solidad. He actually liked the girl, she was very similar to him in several departments, had a serious attitude and a deep love for Pokémon. But truth to be told Ash wasn't looking for a girlfriend, he was still very young and the constant town skipping he made in his journey were an instant killer for any kind of budding relationship. Besides, as the first month of his journey proved, there were plenty of fish in the sea and jumping and settling at a relationship would be suicidal and anti-climactic to say the best, furthermore it would distract him from main goal: winning a league championship.

This didn't mean in any way that Ash was going to adopt Brock's F.F.F.F. (Find 'em, Feel 'em, Fuck 'em and Forget 'em) strategy. He wasn't opposed to meeting girls, and going out with them, but wasn't going to trivialize sex in that level, he was 14 years old for crying out loud.

However, Solidad being a traveler herself probably knew about all those points and like him probably was just looking for a casual thing. She also didn't look like the clingy type.

Ash made sure to get there early as he feared he might get lost at the city despite the directions Brock gave him earlier.

Apparently the Museum was hosting an event to celebrate some important archeological discoveries their team made in a exploration in Unova, and despite not being a paid event, thus being in theory accessible to anyone interested, Ash didn't want to embarrass him, or Solidad for the matter by arriving late.

After five minutes of waiting, he finally saw Soledad approaching and he had to admit she was very pretty. She decided to go with a light blue long dress.

Ash also changed his look for the date, wearing a dark crimson red plain t-shirt and white denim pants. His hair had already grown a bit since he left and since this was a semi-formal event Ash opted to style it in a tuft instead of leaving it free and messy as he liked. His ever faithful Pikachu was resting inside his pokéball. Although the rodent disliked it, Ash thought it would be impolite to bring his pokémon along in a date.

"Hey." Ash said smiling

"Hey." Solidad greeted him back with a smile.

Ash then offered his arm to Solidad in a chivalric manner.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes." Solidad said as her took Ash's arm

The date was going well in Ash's opinion Solidad was a very pleasurable company, and they talked about lots of subjects while navigating through the museum exhibits. Pokémon strategy was the main subject, with Solidad explaining several of her contest combinations and Ash sharing some of his strategies with electric types and some ideas about some possible uses at contests, which Solidad eagerly accepted. Besides pokémon, Ash gave Soledad some insight about how things worked when you were constantly travelling. Soledad only had made short, one day trips, at max and was very inexperienced at this point. While Ash didn't dived further than saying that his mother was dead when asked about his family, he paid attention when Solidad told him that both her parents were executives at Silph Co. and therefore traveled a lot, making her mature quicker than most girls her age.

Ash silently noted that they didn't consume anything.

"Solidad, I'm going to the restroom, want me to get something on the way back?" he asked to his date

"I'd like a bottle of water." The salmon colored hair girl said.

"Okay, I'll be back in a sec." Ash said before making his way to the bathrooms.

Much to the raven haired trainer's surprise he came face to face with Brock as he entered the bathroom

"Brock? What are you doing here?"

"At the toilet?" Brock asked goofily

"No, at the museum."

"I received a request to give a lecture about rock types." He explained

"I see…"

"How's your date going?" Brock asked

"It has been great so far, I think I should go back to her anyway."

"Never come back empty handed." Brock advised

"I'm bringing her a bottle of water."

"How romantic." Brock said in a mocking tone

"Shut up…" Ash muttered

"Just kidding, I'll go with you, I'll probably need a bottle of water too."

As the duo left the restroom they were surprised to see that the previously full lobby was now empty.

"Weird…" Brock muttered.

The duo then went to the small are outside of the building where the food court was located, only to find it … empty.

"This is seriously starting to look like 'Night at the Museum'" Ash commented.

"Where you last saw Solidad?" Brock asked

"Near the Kabutops exhibit."

"Let's go there then."

They weren't surprised to see the area around the exhibit empty.

"Let's go to the main hall." Brock said

As soon as they saw several of the visitors, one of which being Solidad, tied, while some grunts passed by, collecting their pokéballs.

"Team Rocket, or was it Team Suns?" Ash muttered

"Who?"

"It's a long story, right now we need to take them down."

"We're seriously outnumbered here."

"We will play their game, we will fight dirt." Ash said angrily

"What do you mean?"

"Which pokémon you have on hand?" Ash replied with another question

"Geodude and Onix."

"Great, we will use some non-lethal pokémon attacks at the grunts. I know it's poorly regarded but it's still the only way."

"How we're doing this?"

"Let's use the lesser attacks to mass the grunts together, and then they'll be walking straight at the Spider's web, or in this case the mouse's web."

"Okay." Brock said as he called upon his Onix and Geodude.

"Use Rock Tomb towards the grunts." Brock ordered in a whisper

Ash then called his pokémon.

"Charmeleon use Dragon Rage, Squirtle use Rapid Spin, Bulbasaur use Razor Leaf, Persian get through the grunts and use your claws to release the visitors, finally Pikachu, five extra bottles of ketchup if you trap them all with a single Electroweb."

The pokémon then divided themselves in groups and slowly surrounded the room.

"NOW." Was Ash's command that echoed through the room.

The grunts who were surprised by Ash's sudden yell then were surprised by the pokémon attacks onslaught, being unable to react.

As they massed together, Pikachu grinned wickedly and fired an Electroweb, that caught the entire group, constantly shocking them. While the voltage wasn't high enough to kill or cause permanent damage, it still served his purpose to restrain their movements.

Ash and Brock then went towards the visitors which hadn't been untied yet. Ash neared Solidad with a smile, however the girl expression suddenly changed from happiness to terror.

"ASH! BEHIND YOU!" the coordinator yelled

Ash turned to see a grunt who wasn't caught at the web charging at him, with a knife in his hands.

"_Fuck…"_

However in the last minute the charging grunt was intercepted by a tackle from Brock, who managed to loosen the enemy's grip on the knife, forcing a drop.

When Ash was about to thank Brock another grunt appeared, attacking Brock from behind. Thankfully this grunt however wasn't armed. Ash quickly acted, launching himself towards the grunt straddling him before unleashing a flurry of punches at his face.

Ash's action however was interrupted when Officer Jenny appeared at the scene.

"That's enough." She said, directly at Ash

The trainer shrugged, launching another punch at the grunt's face, before getting up.

"_Just to make sure…"_ he mentally justified

He and Brock then turned to Jenny.

"What you did was extremely brave." The officer praised, before scowling. "And extremely stupid either, be thankful they hadn't any fire guns." She said in a scolding tone

"But thanks to your effort we managed to prevent a mass robbery of both pokémon and precious artifacts of this museum." Jenny said happily.

"I barely did anything, Brock here was the mastermind of the plan." Ash lied, looking at Brock

"_I'm setting you up, don't waste this chance." _

Brock gratefully nodded at Ash, before engaging Jenny in conversation.

The trainer then went towards Solidad, who launched herself at his arms, catching Ash's lips in a kiss. It wasn't overly chaste or overly lustful, shortly being the best kiss of his life.

"My hero…" Solidad said blushing

"If this is the reward, I should probably save people more often." Ash joked

As the Ash was about to leave, he heard a scientist calling for him and Brock.

"I'll be right back." He said to Solidad, before going towards where the scientist was.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for your acts during the robbery. If weren't for you the grunts would probably be successful at the robbery."

"It was nothing, Pewter is my city and I'm its gym leader, it's my duty to protect my home." Brock said in a solemn tone

"I'm not from Pewter, but I wouldn't be better than those robbers if I did nothing to stop them." Ash said

"Still such valiant display of bravery demands a compensation of sorts." The scientist said as two of his assistants appeared carrying…fossils?

"Those are some surplus we have here, I'd like to offer them to you as a prize."

He gestured towards the first assistant, who carried two different fossils in each of his hands.

"Those are the Helix and Dome Fossils."

He then gestured towards the second assistant who held a amber colored fossil.

"This is the Old Amber."

"Sir, there's no need to…" Brock tried to argument

"I insist."

Brock then looked at Ash.

"Which one do you want?"

"I think I'll take the Old Amber, you can take the Dome and Helix fossils?"

"Sure."

The assistants handed the items to the trainers, Ash made sure that the Old Amber was safely stored at his bag as the scientist once again spoke.

"There's an experimental project at the Pokémon Lab in Cinnabar Island that promises to bring prehistorical pokémon back to life, I think you two should go there to check it out." The scientist suggested

"Thanks." The duo said, as they made their way towards the exit.

* * *

Ash then escorted Solidad back to her home, before heading back to Brock's house, it was already late, and he planned to leave Pewter early tomorrow, so he would have to be rested.

As he neared the gym he saw a tall muscular figure.

"Flint? Is that you?" Ash asked

"Ash." The man said greeting Ash with a nod

"You're here to challenge Brock?"

"No." the man took a deep breath "I'm his…"

However he was interrupted when the door opened, revealing Brock himself.

"Hey Ash." The gym leader then turned to Flint. "You…" he growled angrily

"Brock, so…"

Flint was interrupted by a right hook from Brock landing at his face.

"Flint!" Ash said in concern

"You know him?" Brock asked glaring at Ash

"I met him before challenging the gym, he gave me two TMs. Why did you punch him?"

"Because he's my father, or at least this was what he was supposed to be."

"I'm sorry." Was the only thing Flint said as he got to his knees.

"For leaving you and your mother, for forcing you to lose your childhood taking care of your siblings, for failing you, for being a coward, I'm so sorry." Flint said as tears spilled from his eyes

"Why should I forgive you?" Brock yelled angrily

"Brock, hear him out." Ash said, putting a hand on his shoulder

"Fine, let's go to the gym."

The trio silently walked towards the gym building, getting to the battlefield.

"Why are you back now?" Brock demanded

"I've realized my mistakes and how rough things had been for you." Flint explained

"Well, newsflash: you're five years late." The gym leader yelled

"Son, I can't make up for the lost time, a man can only admit when he was wrong and ask forgiveness."

"I can't forgive you, even if I wanted to."

"Then let me stay here." Flint said surprising Brock and Ash

"Why I'd do that?"

"So you can be a Pokémon breeder as you wished to."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm your father."

"But what guarantees that you won't leave again?"

"A man's promise."

Brock seemed conflicted, he then turned to Ash.

"What do you think?"

"Not having a father is rough shit, people pick you on, say your mom's a whore… it happened to me. I can't tell if Flint is lying or not, but it looks like he regrets his decisions. Brock, remember the talk we had yesterday, like me, there may be a light in the end of the tunnel." Ash advised

"Flint…father, we have a lot to talk about." Brock said turning to his parent

"I know, son."

Ash decided it was better to leave the Harrison house to give Brock and Flint time to talk with each other, so he went looking for a place to camp. His phone then ringed, with a text from Solidad

_SOLIDAD: BROCK CALLED ME SAYING THAT YOU HAVE NO PLACE TO SLEEP, BUNK IN AT MY HOUSE. I WON'T ACCEPT NO AS AN ANSWER._

Ash sighed, it seemed like Brock wanted to pay him back for setting him up with Officer Jenny

_ASH: I'M GOING_

* * *

He reached Solidad's apartment in some minutes. The apartment was situated at downtown Pewter and was a two room, as Solidad mentioned earlier his parents were travelling. Ash then gulped as he remembered Brock's quote from yesterday.

"_I'm telling you right now, she wants The Pipe."_

Ash dismissed this thoughts from his head, only for them come right back full force when Solidad opened the door. She was wearing very casual and comfy clothes. White oversized t-shirt and white shorts, very small white shorts.

"Ash." She beamed giving a peck on his lips

"S-Solidad." Was all Ash could say as he tried to contain his blush.

"Come, I'll show you the house." She said, turning her back at him, involuntarily swaying her hips.

Ash blinked a couple of times, his mouth agape.

"_This will be a very long night."_

**End of Chapter Five**

* * *

This concludes the rewriting of the five original chapters, I must say I'm happier with this version. From Chapter 6 onwards I'll have to actually write the chapters, not only rewrite them so I'm afraid the updates will take a bit longer, even more when I'm swamped at college, my objective is to be able to update every week, but it's not something guaranteed. From Chapter 6 onwards I'll be deploying some of the things I thought during the time I was on hiatus, so the writing style will likely suffer some minor modification, hopefully for the better. Now, without any further ado, here are last chapter's reviews:

**GA Pokemon Fan**: Yeah, cockblocking is probably one of the foulest things you can do to a bro, but Ash will remember this next time he sees Misty.

**Shane**: Thanks a lot for the praise, I'm glad you liked the last chapter, it makes me eager to write even more. Ash will have some major fighting skills, not invincible, but he won't the guy you want to feud with. Thankfully (for us) and unfortunately(for Damian) there will be some good amount of fight scenes in this story.

**ultimateCCC**: Growlithe is one of my favorite pokémon, so I don't have anything against adding him. But I can't guarantee that Ash will have one, mostly because since this story was originally written focusing mainly on the gameverse, I try to be faithful with the placements of the pokémon in the routes emulating the game, for instance all of Ash's five current pokémon were found in areas where you could obtain them in game (mostly of the people didn't notice that, but Ash caught Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle in the locations they are given in Pokémon Yellow), every time I write a new chapter I do research on the locations I'm writing about and the pokémon found in those areas, and then consider adding one or two pokémon to Ash's team. Growlithe is found in Routes 7,8 and the Pokémon Mansion in Cinnabar Island, which will be featured soon, so there's a real chance of Ash getting one real soon.

**Guest**: As I said above, cockblocking is a unforgivable crime in the eyes of men and gods. Jokes aside, I'm afraid there's very little chance of including lemons in this story, mainly for the fact I don't know how to write romance scenes very well.

**DarklighterUSA**: Thanks a lot for the review. There are some of Ash's canon pokémon which will be dropped in order to open up space for the new ones to join in, although Ash will have a larger team than his canon counterpart. Brock will make a big decision next chapter, so there's a very real chance of him joining Ash. I'd like to stop and admire that two of the last four reviews mentioned cockblocking and you asked about probably the biggest cockblocker of all time. Jokes aside once again, if Brock joins I'd have no problem in him having Croagunk as he's one of his most iconic pokémon, on the other hand as I explained in a reply above yours I tend to be slightly stern with the pokémon placement in the world, so if Brock does join I'm afraid we'll have to wait until Sinnoh.

**UnsanMusho**: Thanks for the review and the praise. I'm totally opposed to bashing characters, in my opinion it, besides discrediting the story and making it slightly unreal, also generates a lot of rejection from fans of a character being bashed. I lost count of how many times I stopped reading Naruto fics because they bashed Sakura or even pokémon fics that mainly bashed everyone but Ash and his pairing. Rant aside, I usually like to write mainly about the character flaws of character and develop them to make them as human as possible. Misty will still be slightly hot headed, Brock will still act like a leech and Ash will have a tendency to act with dubious morality sometimes, but I'll do this to portray them as humans rather than bash them.

**Chux Ehn**: Worry not brother, it's actually 2 AM here and I'm tired a hell from a microeconomics class, so my reply will mostly likely be even more dozy.

I'm happy you liked the characters developments, as I made a goal to add a bit more of depth when rewriting this story, I also agree that I'd probably could've done a better job with Melanie. Also there'll be a lot more of Damian.

Now, to your criticisms, first of all thanks, they really have a point and they indeed helped me to further plan the story.

When I originally wrote this story I mainly planned it to be a gamefic with some elements of the anime, I even thought of adding game mechanics such as EVs and competitive battling. About six months from this point I realized I was being more rigid than I've liked and that it would be great to the story if I merged even more elements of the animeverse. The fight with Gyarados was anti-climatic mainly because like as you said seemed like a game fight. From now on, with the rewriting complete I plan to improve, and a lot, the battle scenes to make them look more attractive for the readers. I've even received a review in the original story from a writer I greatly admire saying that I should improve this, so it'll be a focus moving forward.

The second criticism scares me, whilst it is once again an effect of basing the story on the game, it scares me because a few minutes before I've received your review I was exactly thinking about having Ash to suffer a defeat or two to shake him up, and this will happen in the next chapter. However, Ash won't be the guy who will lose easy, or even slightly hard battles, to defeat him will be truly hard, and this will play a bigger in his character development, as he'll take his defeats a lot more deeply than he did in canon.

Finally regarding the whole Aura Guardian Ash, it will happen and in fact sooner than most people think. However at the start Ash's aura abilities will be extremely unreliable, only triggering under extreme circunstances. Also he won't be much OP, he will awaken his powers early, but only will develop them by the end of the Hoenn Arc, and only will train at Sinnoh, so if the timeline goes as I planned only in four years. I see him using Aura in the same manner and strength as Riley, so nothing extreme although he'll have some unorthodox uses for his Aura.

**Roasted-Potato**: Having you calling my story amazing really gladdens me and motivates me to work even harder from this point onwards, so thanks a lot. I love sports and it's always nice to bring them into the story, whilst I fear some people won't like the whole NBA pun Ash makes with the Rockets, it is something I made for myself, and to have other people liking this...really amazing man. As for your point about pokémon in the real world making a small part of the population as they would eclipse the 'normal' animal species.

I agree in some point, but since the anime, and the Pokémon series were extremely vague about animals in the real world it opens a whole lot of space, which can be either good or bad. I'll share my theory to explain this event, although I don't like to make abstractions like these. Since Japan is a island and historically was isolated until the Meiji Restoration, which happened at the second half of the nineteenth century, it is fair, and logical to presume Japan had his own fauna, different from the entire rest of the world. In real life islands play a huge role in diversity and unique lifeforms, just look at the importance islands like Galapagos, Madagascar and even Australia have. So whilst Pokémon developed mainly in Japan, it can make a lot of sense if they were still concentrated there as only 150 years passed by them. Due to the whole specialization thing, whilst Pokémon prevaled, but also were biologically unable to cause a boom in population as they mainly focused their energies in maintaining their bodies rather than reproducing faster.

At times like these I curse the two years I spent studying biology, as lot of technical terms such r/k-strategist come into my mind. As a rather lackadaisical example, think of the cheetah and the gazelle at the African savannas, whilst the cheetah has record speed, fangs and lots of corporal modifications, they are the threatened species as opposed to the gazelle, one of their favorite species. Human involvement aside this happens because maintaining such types of modifications cost a lot of energy, so they tend to mature a lot latter and take longer to reproduce, producing a small number of offspring. Gazelles on the other hand quickly mature and reproduce explosively, being thus entitled to a larger population.

Well, I'd bet this is the first time you came to read fanfiction and went out with a (rather lame) biology class. Once again, jokes aside I hope you could understand at least a small part of my reasoning, although I'd completely understand if you disagreed with me there.

As for your second part of the review, I took the liberty to look at a map of Japan and their pokémon region conterparts, Hoenn counterpart is connected by a bridge and a narrow passage to the mainland, where Kanto and Johto are located at, and there's a tunnel connecting Hokkaido (Sinnoh) to the mainland too, but I get your point. Being honest i don't considered Almia when writing this story, mainly because I never played the spin off games, but I don't see why there should be a uniform system, some countries stumble on even simple things than that such as language (Belgium for instance) or time zones (Russia and US come into my mind). Regarding Orre, whilst I greatly respect the US I don't think it's that much of a shock to have an abandoned region in there, just look at what happened to Michigan when the GM left Flint.

Once again, I can totally understand if you don't accept my points, and I hope you continue reading, and hopefully reviewing regardless of that.

(Also don't fret, from a non-native speaker to another, your English was pretty much on point)

* * *

That was a large review section, which I was glad to answer to, I can't even begin to describe how it feels to receive so much positive feedback and tips, so please keep reviewing. As I said next chapter will mostly likely take slightly longer to get ready, and to compensate this I'll give you guys a hint about the plot.

The hint is: 08/07/2014, good luck and try to guess the meaning at the review section.


	6. Strike Two! You're caught!

I'm back with yet another chapter from Zero to Hero - Reloaded. When I planned chapter six I thought it would encompass a lot more of the story than it did, but I decided to split it in two, maybe three due to the size and my lack of time. I have two exams next week at college and will probably spend the entire week studying, or at least trying to. Last chapter in a response to a review I said that Ash would have his first defeat, but since things changed in the planning this will only happen next chapter, so I apologize for misleading you. Now, note aside let's get this story started.

* * *

_"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do."_ \- Pelé

* * *

**Chapter Six - Strike Two! You're caught!**

Brock stood patiently waiting in front of his house/gym while glancing at the horizon, after yesterday events he arranged to meet Ash and discuss the before mentioned events. Feeling a bit guilty about Ash leaving his house so he and Flint could talk, he texted Solidad, informing her of the situation.

Ash had grown closer to the girl and Brock surely played the role of wingman to perfection, setting Ash to meet up with her at her house.

He waited for five minutes until he saw the figure of Ash, with his red bomber jacket and blue jeans, approaching slowly, with his signature Shiny Pikachu atop his shoulder. Taking a closer look at the trainer, Brock noticed that he had bags under his eyes and looked very tired.

"I take your night was very productive." Brock said with a lecherous grin

Ash mumbled something incoherently.

"What? I didn't hear you."

The trainer sighed, doing his best to look normal, despite the small blush in his cheeks.

"We didn't do anything." He then looked a bit more serious. "Enough talking about me, you and Flint reached an agreement?"

"Yes, he'll stay in here. I decided it would be selfish if I prevented my siblings from being with their father just because of my feud with him. Still, I didn't forgive him, and I don't know if I ever will, so I'm leaving Pewter." Brock announced, causing Ash to raise an eyebrow.

"So where are you going now?"

"I'd like to join you in your travels, I believe the best way to learn to be a breeder is by travelling, and something tells me that things are never boring around you."

In Ash's mind that was an understatement, in less than a month of his journey he already had five pokémon, three of which he recruited after their trainers abandoned then, besides having kissed several girls, getting into a brawl and being arrested, running into a criminal organization twice and collecting two gym badges in the process.

Brock misinterpreted Ash's musings as hesitation, and decided to present points in his own favor.

"I promise I'm not going to be a nuisance, I can cook for you and your pokémon too. Besides, I see a bright future for you, and I'm not referring only to pokémon battles, I see the potential to make you a potential candidate for the Pink or even the Blue Hat. I'll help you, be your bro, your wingman, think like this, if you're Michael Jordan I'll be your Scottie Pippen, if you're John Stockton I'll be your Karl Malone…"

Brock then interrupted as he saw Ash raise a hand, signaling for him to stop.

"Bro, you had me at the 'I can cook for you and your pokémon' part." Ash said, causing Brock to smile.

"Thanks Ash, you won't regret that decision."

"I know I won't."

"Now, where we're going?" Brock asked.

"Good question, if you're not opposed I suggest we head to Viridian City."

"Ash I'm the one joining in, so I agree of course, but may I ask why? Usually trainers go to Vermilion or Celadon first, besides Viridian is considered one of the strongest gyms in the region."

"I agree, but unlike most of the trainers I studied under Surge, and he won't be pulling any punches when it comes to me. He'll only allow me into the Indigo League if I give him all of the assurances I won't be tarnishing his name by losing into the first rounds. As for Viridian, while I reckon Pikachu will have a tough time, I'm sure my other four pokémon, Squirtle and Bulbasaur most of all will be able to pull their own weight."

"I see, but why not heading to Celadon instead? It's an important city and closer to Saffron and Fuchsia."

"There's another reason, Pallet Town, my hometown and where Professor Oak's research lab is located is less than a day away from Viridian City, and I promised to head there to talk with him about something. Also, from there is possible to take a boat and go to Cinnabar Island, where a gym is located at." Ash reasoned.

"Now come to think of it the research facility the scientist mentioned yesterday is located at Cinnabar Island. Besides if things go as you planned you will be halfway through the region with plenty of time to ready yourself to face Surge."

"So" Ash asked with a smirk "all set for Viridian City?"

"Let's go." Brock replied with a smirk.

* * *

"Say Ash, have you ever heard of The Crown?"

The older teen asked to Ash as they navigated through Viridian Forest. This particular area had a foliage so dense that it looked like it was already night, although it was a bit past midday.

"Crown? The headgear kings wear?"

"No, this is a crown, what I'm talking about is THE Crown."

"I'm going to regret asking this, but what is The Crown?"

"The Crown is the name given to a particular achievement as male trainers reach certain milestones with female gym leaders."

Ash was about to shrug it off, but it then dawned on him. "You're talking about sexual milestones, right?"

"Damn right I am." He replied confidently.

Ash just sighed, Brock had a knack for corrupting young people's minds. "Brock, I'm far from being a guy who supports feminism, but don't you think this is a bit too much? I mean, we're talking about living people here, I'm not the guy to give lectures about relationships, but I think it's unfair to get involved with someone just because you want a sort of achievement." He said, seriously.

"I know Ash, this is just a joke of sorts, also this obviously only will happen when both parties are interested. It's just normal guy talk."

Then it dawned on Ash that despite his nine siblings Brock was also a loner of sorts. It was very likely that Brock had no time to have relationships with girls and even forge friendships because he was too busy caring for his siblings. They were truly alike, which made Ash happy that he had Brock onboard as much as he was probably the Pewter's trainer first real friend, Brock was also one of his first friends, and unlike Leaf someone who really knew his everyday struggles.

"Well," He said, deciding to humor Brock. "if that's the case I'm glad you told me about this, because I already made some progress in this milestone."

"BULLSHIT. There's no…WAIT, you do have the Cerulean badge." He said his once squinted eyes widening in a very disturbing manner.

Ash was almost glad a loud cry pierced through the air, alerting the duo.

"It came from there." Ash said, pointing to an encirclement of trees. "Let's check it."

When they reached the area, Ash glanced at the origin of the sound, a heavily injured Pidgeotto was being ganged by several Spearows. The bird pokémon being crouched to the ground, lying on his belly in an attempt of protecting his vital organs by the onslaught of the aggressive Spearow, whom relentlessly punished his wings and back with scratches and pecks.

"Cowards." He said, barely controlling his anger, and turning to Pikachu. "Let's do this."

"Pika!" the rodent cried, leaping from Ash's shoulder.

"Let's separate the Spearow from Pidgeotto, we can't risk injuring him even more. Pikachu, charge at them using Quick Attack."

"Chuuu!" The rodent cried building off momentum as he charged towards the flock.

Too focused on hurting Pidgeotto the flock barely had time to react when a yellow blur hit them from the flanks, instantly injuring one of them.

"Speee!" the flock cried angrily, as they assumed an attack formation, as Ash counted seven of them, with the knocked out retreating.

"Pikachu, use your speed to surprise them, then use Electroweb."

Pikachu then shook his head, glancing at Ash with a confident expression.

"New move?" he asked getting a nod from the rodent, who grinned maniacally.

"What are you waiting for then?" The Vermilion trainer asked with a grin.

"Chuuuu." Pikachu cried while leaping towards the group as some of the Spearow charged at him. "Pikaaaaaa!" he yelled as his electrical pouches started to spark, enveloping his entire body, before releasing electricity at the entire flock at once.

"Discharge." Ash muttered as the Spearow yelled in pain.

"Great job Pikachu, you're getting stronger than ever." Ash praised as the flock stormed off in fear.

"Ash, come here, quick." Brock said as he kneeled next to the form of Pidgeotto.

"Shit, they really punished him." Ash cursed as he glanced at Pidgeotto's back and wings, several scratches adorned the avian pokémon body and some cut seemed to crawl even further into the bird.

"Pidgeotto, we are here to help, please restrain from moving." Ash pleaded looking straight at the pokémon eyes, earning a pitiful cry from him.

"Brock, you told me you've read a lot about pokémon medicine, you think we can heal him here?"

Brock frowned for a minute, analyzing the pokémon's injuries. "I can't know for sure, first we need to clean off the cuts and use potions to speed the healing process, but what really concerns me is this." He said pointing to a cut at the junction between Pidgeotto's wing and body. "I can't know for sure if the Spearow's attack damaged a nerve or ligament, if it did Pidgeotto won't be able to properly fly."

After hearing Brock's last statement the pokémon started to desperately trash around, as Ash and Brock held him to the ground.

"Pidgeotto, please calm down" Ash said, attempting his best to sound calm and confident. "We will help you. You will be able to fly again."

The avian pokémon just nodded, before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Brock, those Spearow may come back to finish the job, if we're going to help Pidgeotto it's best to always leave one of us near him."

"I agree, but I think that it would be better if only my pokémon guarded him." He reasoned. "Don't take this as a slight against you or your pokémon, but when it comes to defense we're the best, besides rock types can easily wreak havoc against flying types such as Spearow."

Ash nodded, he wasn't going to beat around the bush; right now his team defenses were below average at best. The closest thing he had of a defensive presence being Bulbasaur.

"Okay, let's set camp, you take the first shift; since we're stuck here I might as well ready my team to battle at the Viridian Gym."

* * *

Ash, with Pikachu atop his shoulder, made his way through the forest, looking at the scenery. He then noted the small grotto and the stream of the river.

"_Could it be?"_ he wondered as he headed towards the grotto, quickly he recognized the structure, narrow passageways and natural barriers.

"Pikachu, this is where we met." He exclaimed excitedly as he crawled at the passage way.

Pikachu dutifully followed him, as they sat at the covered structure.

"Pikachu, it's been four years, time flies right?" he asked earning a nod from the rodent.

Ash kept staring absently minded at the cave. "I never thanked you." He said earning a surprised look from the pokémon.

"I never thanked you for following me, for accepting me. Before we met I was at the rock bottom of life, my mother had just died and the only future I could see myself into was joining a gang or endlessly working into a low paying job to earn just enough to not starve. But the you came in, you reminded of my dream, of my mom's dream, if I didn't had you I'd never be living that dream, I'd probably have fallen into depression."

Pikachu leapt at Ash's arms, hugging him tightly, causing a smile to grace the usually reserved trainer's lips.

"Pikachu, let's promise ourselves a thing, right here, right now." He said earning his first pokémon attention.

"Despite what life throws at us, despite winning or losing, let's always be partners alright?" he said extending his hand.

"Pikaaa!" the rodent cried in approval putting his paw over Ash's hand.

Suddenly Ash noticed a sort of glow near Pikachu's feet.

"Hey, Pikachu, what's this on your feet?" he asked pointing towards the source of the glow

"Pika?" the rodent asked, looking at his feet and noticing a Yellow Orb.

Ash then got close and saw the item up close. It was a yellowish pale orb with small yellow patterns inside. It shone brighter when it came into contact with Pikachu. Ash then grinned remembering his classes with Lt. Surge.

"Pikachu, we truly hit jackpot here, this is a Light Ball."

The item was truly important, and Ash almost instantly thought of how much stronger Pikachu's attacks would be if he used it. Simply put into numbers, his damage would be doubled.

As his rodent happily carried the item, Ash couldn't help but frown as a thought crossed his mind.

"When we get to Viridian I'll make an necklace so you can easily take it to the battle."

"_I found Pikachu's egg here, then I found a Light Ball…Pikachu knows how to use Volt Tackle which is only possible because one of his parents held a Light Ball…could it be related somehow?_

* * *

"Pikachu, is that what I think it is?" Ash asked as he glanced at a particular sign attached to a pole.

The rodent nodded happily as Ash read the sign.

_VIRIDIAN CITY - __VIRIDIAN FOREST __\- PEWTER CITY_

"Let's see if it is still there." Ash said and glanced at the back of the sign where a message craved by a knife was still readable.

* * *

_ASH KETCHUM, FUTURE POKÉMON MASTER AND HIS BEST FRIEND PICHU_

_THEY'LL KNOW OUR NAMES_

_VIRIDIAN FOREST_

_2012/06/21_

* * *

Ash smiled, turning to his first companion.

"Four years Pikachu, four years since my life changed. You were still a newly hatched Pichu, so cute back then…" he said only to be interrupted by a fairly strong Thundershock attack as the shiny Pikachu glared at him.

"Hey I was joking." He complained, Pikachu always made clear he disliked being hugged and called cute, if he could talk Ash would've guessed he would probably be cursing him right now.

Ash then took time to glance around, although he already knew exactly he would find a giant tree, towering above the others. This place was forever etched in Ash's memories as it was here he had his first pokémon battle.

Feeling energized and inspired instantly, Ash decided to call his other four pokémon. His pokémon appeared in four flashes of light, Squirtle, Persian, Bulbasaur and, finally Charmeleon. Pikachu quickly joined the line alongside the rest of his companions.

'Ash smiled, suddenly feeling satisfied on how well he was doing so far. "I'm not the one to do speeches or pep talks, but I felt like this was needed. We're deep into Viridian Forest, and this place holds special memories for me. Here I met my first real friend." He said glancing at Pikachu who proudly looked back. "Right now we are standing in the exact place of my first battle, and four years ago I could've never hoped to have friends like you."

"Pikachu, we're a match made in heaven friend, I may have saved your life when I found your abandoned egg, but you saved mine joining me when I was alone in the world, and for that," he said bowing "I thank you."

"Squirtle, when we first met we were enemies, and you had every right to be bitter at the world. Yet when you saw humans in danger at that fire, you, alongside your squad, went to help, because you could never bear to see innocents get hurt. You're my second friend, which matters not, as I love you all equally, but to enduring training at Vermilion alongside me and always being ready to help" Ash said once again bowing "I thank you."

"Persian, you were the first pokémon I met when I truly started my journey, you were still a Meowth then, and yet you gave Pikachu a run for his money. We've been traveling together for two months, and despite this short time you've grown exceptionally well, and were the key to several of my victories, so thank you for your hard work and drive to improve." Ash said whilst bowing.

"Bulbasaur, when we first met I was truly pissed at you to be honest. I mean you poached a 20000 P-Dollars pokéball from me. Now, jokes aside you are an impressive pokémon both on and off the battlefield. When we train I always see you encouraging your partners, I shouldn't be surprised as you already proved to be an impressive leader at the Pokémon Village, but I'd say as much as you developed battle wise, you also developed in terms of maturity. So, thanks for trusting me that day and helping me, and most of all thanks for joining me at my travels, this truly meant the world to me." He said as he bowed once again, before turning to his last pokémon.

"Charmeleon, I dare say that between all of my pokémon you were the one who had the roughest past, due to your former trainer's pettiness you almost died. Still you've chosen to believe once again, and as your trainer I thank you for that." He said bowing once again, before glancing at the fire pokémon eyes. "And I promise I won't let you down as long as you stand by me."

Ash chuckled for a minute, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, speech time's over, so as we still are waiting for Pidgeotto to make his recovery I thought we should use this time for training. Pikachu, Persian, both of you are my fastest pokémon so I spar between yourselves, speed is always key in my strategies. Charmeleon your body changed when you evolved, so I'd like for you to do special physical training in order to adapt to the changes. I'll be strengthening your lower body, see that tree over there?" he asked pointing to a sturdy tree at the clearing. I want you to charge at it and use Metal Claw repeatedly, don't focus on power only, add speed and momentum too." He said as the pokémon nodded, before turning to Squirtle and Bulbasaur.

"Squirtle, Bulbasaur, we'll be challenging the Viridian Gym and their famed Earth types, you both will be key pieces if we're to leave with the win, I'll be giving you both my full attention during those sessions. Squirtle, my focus will be improving both your speed and water type attacks, whilst your defenses are pretty good I feel that currently your speed is what's limiting you. Bulbasaur, I will drill you on endurance and the accuracy of your moves, being blunt if I were to adopt a defensive strategy right now you'd be my centerpiece, but your overall bulk can always improve alongside the kind of damage you deal indirectly to the opposition, I'm talking about status ailments and Leech Seed, if you master this you'll truly be my fortress."

The two pokémon followed Ash to a more reserved place. "The first drill I designed will focus on Squirtle's reflexes whilst helping Bulbasaur with the usage of the Vine Whip." Ash then turned to Squirtle and pointed to an Aspear Berry tree. "Squirtle, can you please use water gun to knock out some berries for me?" he asked earning a nod from the turtle pokémon, who promptly took down about eight berries.

Ash placed two berries about 10 meters (32 feet from each other) in a straight line. Then he placed another one about 50 meters (160 feet) from the other two. He quickly pocketed the rest of the berries, before signaling to his pokémon. "Bulbasaur, stand there." he said pointing to the farthest berry. "Squirtle you will be sprinting from one berry to another." He said, pointing to the other two berries which were arranged in a straight line.

"Bulbasaur I'll be throwing the berries in my pocket at you, your task is to use Vine Whip to deflect them back into my hand. Think of it as a baseball game of sorts, however when I say 'NOW' you will instead throw the berries above. Squirtle will have to hit them midair with his Water Gun.

"Now." He said with a grin. "Let's get this show on the road." He completed as he threw a Aspear Berry at Bulbasaur, who promptly deflected to the ground with his Vine Whip, whilst Squirtle sprinted.

"Onto my hand." The trainer commanded as the training progressed.

"NOW!" he yelled as Bulbasaur deflected the berries at the air whilst Squirtle stopped and fired his water gun attack. Of the five berries Ash threw, Bulbasaur managed to deflect all five whilst Squirtle only hit two.

"There's still room for improvement, gentlemen." Ash noted as the two pokémon recovered.

"Now, Bulbasaur I'll be making things more difficult to you." You'll have to deflect the berries whilst juggling another berry with one of your vines. Round two, let's go!"

This time things were a lot harder for the grass type, as he had to split his attention between the berries thrown at him and juggling the other, of the five thrown he only hit two. Squirtle however managed to hit both of them.

"You've shown improvement, however it's still average effort, and what we need is excellence. Do it once again!" Ash yelled, embracing the role of a drill sergeant.

* * *

"So, how training went?" Brock asked as he prepared their dinner in a makeshift cauldron.

Ash spent less than a week traveling with the breeder aspirant, but he already enjoyed his company a lot. The fact that he actually cooked good food only helped to further increase his opinion on Brock.

"They struggled at first." Ash admitted, sitting by the fire. "But by the end I was very satisfied by the results, Squirtle actually learned how to use Water Pulse, which will help a lot at Viridian because of the increased power, the fact it also has the chance of causing confusion only makes it better. Bulbasaur hasn't learnt any new attack, but he managed to improve the usage of the Vine Whip, which opens a wide array of possibilities. By the end of the day he was able to use the vines to swing himself through the branches, you should've seen." Ash commented with a chuckle. He was doing some serious Tarzan shit right there."

"Now, enough talking about my training, how things are going with Pidgeotto? If you want I can stay at camp so you can stroll through the forest." The Vermilion trainer offered.

"Have you seen any pretty girl around?" the former gym inquired, causing Ash to raise his eyebrows

"Girls in a forest packed with bugs? I fear it would be easier to find Mew here instead."

"So I'm not interested." Brock retorted causing Ash to chuckle, he never gave that much importance but the banter between the two of them really eased his constant loneliness.

"Now, would you mind giving this to Pidgeotto?" Brock asked, giving Ash a handful of Oran berries.

Ash nodded, taking the berries and heading to the place they assembled a makeshift bed for Pidgeotto. Whilst birds usually slept in a different pattern than humans, Brock ordered Pidgeotto to lie in his belly, as it would improve the recuperation rate of his wings.

Wordlessly sitting beside the laying form of the bird Ash extended his berry filled right hand to the Flying type. The avian pokémon at first turned his head in refusal, causing Ash to sigh. "Doctor's orders buddy, the sooner you eat this, the sooner you'll be able to fly again." The trainer's statement caused the pokémon to relent, begrudgingly munching the berries.

Ash noted that the birds kept staring at the sky longingly. "You miss flying." He stated, earning a nod from the pokémon. "I know how you feel, not flying wise, but overall. I've been traveling for a couple months now, and still I already can't see myself settling down somewhere anytime soon." He admitted. Ash petted the crest of feathers situated at Pidgeotto's head. "Just relax, overthinking will just worry you." He advised before retiring to his tent.

* * *

The next week, Ash once again kept overseeing his pokémon's training, due to their improved reflexes and skills from the earlier training sessions, he decided to make things even difficult for the grass-water duo, now, besides him, Charmeleon also helped, using back clawed Metal Claws strikes to throw berries at the duo.

As his pokémon were having a break Ash gave them an almost unperceptive approving nod, despite the tough façade he adopted at the training he was overly pleased with his partners' progress.

Suddenly Ash and his pokémon were assaulted by a strong gust of wind. He frowned, before his eyes widened when he glanced at the horizon. A group of 20 Spearow appeared, led by a fierce looking Fearow.

"Prepare for battle!" he yelled as his pokémon took position.

"Stay together and hold your ground!" the trainer commanded as the first attacks came. Eight Spearows surrounded Bulbasaur and Squirtle, two circled around Persian and three tried to attack Charmeleon. The remaining seven flocked around Fearow, who had his beak in what looked like a scowl.

"Pikachu, I think he's the same Fearow we faced four years ago." Ash noted as the battles progressed and the flock studied him and Pikachu, waiting for their first move.

Despite his confidence in his pokémon Ash was a bit worried as his other pokémon would be facing foes which outnumbered them, and without anyone to give them commands.

"Please be okay…" Ash muttered to himself, thinking of his other pokémon before steadying himself and glaring at Fearow.

"It seems that I forgot you fight unfairly, but you know what happened last time. I'll make sure that this happens once again. Pikachu, be prepared."

The flock, tired of waiting, and led by Fearow, decided to take the initiative, they dived towards Pikachu repeatedly.

Despite the rodent's superior speed, the sheer number of the attackers made the battle a tough one. The Spearows weren't your everyday rabble, they were coordinated and patient and Ash realized this was happening because of the Fearow, he was their foundation, their anchor.

"_If Fearow goes down, the entire flock falls with him…" _Ash noted as the Spearow once again charged at Pikachu.

The electric type sidestepped the first three strikes, before being forced to jump as two other birds charged at him from his right and left flank. This was the opening Fearow need as he, behind another Spearow charged at the rodent, who was still in airborne.

"Shit." Ash cursed as he saw the duo nearing his defenseless pokémon, suddenly an idea, courtesy of the training with Bulbasaur and Squirtle flashed through his mind.

"Pikachu, quickly spin around to regain momentum and use Slam to throw the Spearow towards Fearow."

Ash's starter pokémon did as asked, faking his body to turn to the right before spinning left, bringing his tail along, crashing forcefully at the surprised Spearow and sending him crashing towards Fearow. The evolved flying type was then forced to stop his attack in order to avoid, as Pikachu landed safely on the ground, Fearow regrouped with the remaining Spearow once again encompassing him, in what vaguely resembled a six pointed star, with Fearow on center.

The trainer sighed. _"That was a close one, and the only determinant for Pikachu to be unharmed was the surprise maneuver. We did take one of them down, but they are tiring us out. I have to end this quickly." _

"Pikachu, I have an idea, but it will need perfect timing, otherwise we'll be doomed. Keep your ears trained, and perform as faster as you can." Ash said as he looked at the menacing formation.

"Use Quick Attack whilst changing directions, it'll give you slightly less momentum but will keep them guessing."

The electric mouse nodded, running from left to right in a zigzag pattern nearing the flock. "Now, change it quickly to Volt Tackle, target Fearow in the center." Ash yelled

The mouse then used the remaining momentum plus the electric impulse coming from his own attack to leap quickly towards the evolved woodpecker pokémon.

Despite the sudden change of pace, Fearow was fast and flew higher, ignoring the remaining Spearow, whilst doing a pirouette to exploit Pikachu's error, his beak fiercely spinning as he readied the Drill Peck attack.

"NOW, cancel the attack and unleash a full powered discharge." The Vermilion trainer commanded.

Pikachu then forced the voltage back onto his body, losing speed and momentum midair, stopping where Fearow originally stood at the formation, as the Spearow were slightly out of place, overwhelmed by the before mentioned pokémon' s speed. Pikachu grimaced at the recoil damage before drawing electricity once again and unleashing an attack which engulfed the entire flock minus Fearow, who was further away and managed to stop and look at the scene unfolding.

Cries of pain were heard as the Spearow were hit by a super-effective move. Pikachu meanwhile found himself once again in a defenseless position, falling midair. Ash's strategy took out six pokémon, but left the most important unharmed.

Fearow spent no time in readying himself again with his Drill Peck, targeting Pikachu from point blank range.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled in concern as the woodpecker pokémon neared the freefalling mouse.

"OOOTOO!" cried a blur which tackled Fearow, redirecting the Fearow's attack to the ground and giving Pikachu time to land safely.

The blur was revealed to be Pidgeotto, who flew graciously, with only the slightest hint that his wing was ever critically injured.

"You were late, Pidgeotto was worried, apparently he was right." Brock, who appeared with two pokéballs in hand, said as he stopped beside Ash.

With the unexpected, but welcomed nonetheless, break, Ash had time to look around to see how his pokémon were doing. Bulbasaur and Squirtle were covering each other's backs with Squirtle firing Water Gun strikes at any Spearow who came close enough and Bulbasaur swatting the birds away. Persian, clearly disfavored by the matchup as he only had Pay Day as a ranged attack stood heavily panting as he constantly dodged strikes from the Spearow, having little to no chance to counterattack. Finally, Charmeleon with his newfound evolutionary strength and all around moveset was punishing Spearows from close-range with his Metal Claw and mid-range with both his Ember and Dragon Rage attacks.

"Brock, we are under heavy assault there, the Spearows keep coming, call forth your rock pokémon and please help my pokémon." Brock just nodded at Ash's request sprinting towards where Persian stood, calling forth his Geodude and Onix.

"Pidgeotto thanks a lot for the help, but your wing clearly isn't fully recovered, if you want to help out follow Brock, now that the Spearow are gone the battle got a lot easier, Pikachu and me will take care of the rest."

Pidgeotto however had a different idea. He kept glaring at Fearow, who glared back at him, pretty much ignoring Ash's request. Apparently the duo had a longstanding rivalry by the looks they gave each other, the fact an attack by Fearow's flock nearly crippled Pidgeotto probably also added even more fuel to the fire.

Ash sighed, it seemed like Pidgeotto wasn't going to listen to him. "Pikachu, stand back, we can't really control Pidgeotto choices, and unlike someone I know," he said as he glared at the Fearow "we aren't cowards."

The woodpecker pokémon decided to take action first attacking with Wing Attack, Pidgeotto used uninjured wing to respond in kind, replying with his own attack. The two wings clashed midair, resorting in a stalemate. Both grimaced at the exertion before falling back. Fearow once again readied a Wing Attack, however with his other wing, Pidgeotto had to readjust in order to parry the attack with one of his own, losing momentum and being pushed around by Fearow, and finally being overpowered and thrown to the ground.

"Pidgeotto," Ash called getting the flying type attention. "I get that you want to beat Fearow but you're outmatched, please let me and Pikachu intervene." He pleaded only to be ignored by the pokémon.

The flying/normal type cried and flapped his wings, directing a Gust attack towards Fearow. The evolved woodpecker decided to repeat Pidgeotto's move, sending a slightly more powerful Gust, which clashed and overpowered against Pidgeotto's attack, although losing power and not bothering the bird pokémon.

Pidgeotto cried in frustration, before flying towards Fearow readying a Peck attack. Fearow, however decided to change things up, dodging the Peck directed at his belly and hitting Pidgeotto's head with a Wing Attack, which sent the Pidgey evolution crashing towards the ground again.

Not being finished the evolved woodpecker dived towards Pidgeotto with his beak spinning, signaling a Drill Peck attack. Pidgeotto this time was barely able to avoid a decisive hit from his rival, as he rolled around.

Ash, who was quietly observing the battle from the sideline, narrowed his eyes as he noticed a peculiar pattern on Fearow's Drill Peck, both times he missed, earlier when Pidgeotto tackled and sent him crashing to the ground and now, his beak was temporarily stuck on the ground, Ash counted about three seconds before he was able to properly withdraw it. He scanned the forest where the battle took place, the ground was soft, and so it would be easy to withdraw the beak if stuck there. However another idea appeared in his mind as his eyes were focused on a particular feature.

"Pidgeotto, please let me help you." Ash pleaded getting the flying type's attention. "I can help you win against him on the one on one." He promised.

The flying type relented for some time before nodding.

"Great!" Ash exclaimed. "By the way, you would happen to know an attack called Feather Dance?" he asked earning an affirmative nod from the pokémon.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do: you're faster than him, besides being more nimble too, let's outmaneuver him. Let him come and ready an effective counterattack." He commanded.

Fearow, now even angrier as two of his most hated beings were teaming together, roared in fury, before flying towards Pidgeotto and preparing a Wing Attack using both of his wings.

"Pidgeotto, fake a Wing Attack and duck bellow him, and then use Gust."

Ash's partner pokémon did as he was asked to, his wings shining a pale blue glow as he prepared to impact against Fearow, only to cancel the attack and do a pirouette bellow Fearow and quickly firing a Gust attack. Despite being surprised by the opponent's change of direction, Fearow reacted pretty quickly, crossing his wings and shielding himself from most of the damage, he then roared angrily, flying towards Pidgeotto, who quickly summoned a Gust attack, or what seemed like it, as the attack had a more wide width and height and was still instead of moving forwards.

Recalling his studies, Ash noticed the attack was too weak to be a Hurricane but still had a different feel than the Gust. Upon seeing Fearow run straight at the curtain of wind and stopping, Ash finally remembered, this was a Dragon type move, Twister, fairly weak in terms of damage but with a bigger area of impact besides the flinching chance, that Fearow just experienced firsthand.

Fearow recovered from his status and glared at the duo, clearly angered by the turning of tides at the battle. He readied his strongest Drill Peck attack, as his opponent hovered in his front.

"Pidgeotto, focus, everything comes down to this, we can't lose." Ash said firmly, earning a agreeing nod from the bird.

Fearow dashed seeking to overpower the weaker bird, who kept in the same position. "When he's using the Drill Peck he can't move sidewards very well, let's exploit this." Ash commanded.

The next moments consisted of a game of cat and mouse, as Fearow relentlessly attempted to hit Pidgeotto, who was able, although with a bit of strain to avoid the attacks moving sidewards. Ash kept commanding Pidgeotto, whilst analytically observing the surroundings.

"Pidgeotto, we can't keep dodging forever, so let's give all we have in this attack." Ash yelled with confidence, attempting to rile up the pokémon. "Prepare your strongest Wing Attack, and stay still."

The pokémon, despite the oddity of Ash's commands did as asked, his wings glowing with energy.

"Cross your wings as a shield, and focus solely on my commands." The trainer said from the sidelines, as Fearow neared Pidgeotto, his beak spinning faster than ever.

As the decisive moment came closer and closer, Ash took a deep breath, it was now or never. Pikachu, by his side was keenly watching the battle, ready to step in if needed. "NOW, drop the guard and fall." He yelled, focusing on the scene unfolding before him.

Pidgeotto uncrossed his wings and dived towards the ground. Fearow, being played once like this before, pushed himself even more to fly faster. By barely a second the woodpecker pokémon missed the hit, as Pidgeotto gracefully managed to outmaneuver the fully evolved pokémon, moving under him. Fearow's momentum however carried him forward even more, as Ash grinned widely at the scene developing. The enemy pokémon's eyes widened as he saw what was in front of him as he desperately tried to stop, but to no avail, crashing into a tree beak first with maximum speed.

Not wanting to miss the timing, Ash quickly commanded Pidgeotto to quickly fire a succession of Feather Dance moves, which weakened the enemy, as Ash saw with a bit of smugness that Fearow due to his lack of energy was stuck into the tree's trunk.

With Fearow going down the remaining Spearow quickly withdrew from battle as Ash's pokémon, although slightly injured, celebrated their victory.

Ash, with Brock besides him, congratulated the pokémon, arranged in a line, who fought bravely by their side. The final pokémon was Pidgeotto, who looked quite proud of himself defeating his longtime nemesis.

Ash looked the bird in the eyes and offered him a sincere smile, before extending his hand. "Humans and pokémon are stronger when they work together."

Pidgeotto extended his wing and touched Ash's palm, emulating a handshake.

The trainer awkwardly turned around and recalled his pokémon, before muttering something in the lines of "screw this, I'm asking him" to himself and turning to Pidgeotto. He took a pokéball from his belt and set at Pidgeotto's talons.

"I'd like to ask you to join my team, we fought well together and I don't want to feel regret in not asking. I treat my pokémon as friends, and my goal is to improve alongside them instead of training them. So, what you say?"

The dual type seemed pensive, before nodding and pressing the pokéball button, being sucked in.

One shake

Two shakes

Three shakes

PING!

Capture successful.

Ash fondly clipped the pokéball at his belt, before turning to the tree where Fearow was stuck. He sighed in annoyance, already foreseeing the trouble he would have to deal with later on. He quickly opened his backpack and withdrew a combat knife, the same he used to carve into the sign four years ago and was given to him by Surge later on.

With the knife in his hands he headed towards Fearow, who looked scared shitless by the large knife.

"Killing a pokémon in self-defense isn't considered a crime. I'm sure people who constantly visit this forest could testify that you are indeed violent. Besides you attempted to attack, and probably kill me, if your minion's assault towards Pidgeotto was to be taken into account, not once but twice now."

"However," Ash said, striking his knife beside Fearow's beak and into the narrow hole his attack created. "I'm not a killer."

As he proceeded to cut parts of the trunk in order to be able to rescue Fearow. "Instead I could've left you there and call the PPA (Pokémon Protection Agency) and have you shipped to a Safari Zone around the globe, I heard people in England are very interested in pokémon nowadays." Ash stabbed the trunk once more, diminishing its resistance. "But to be alone in a faraway place, I've been there before, and I don't wish this even upon my biggest enemy."

He kept his work, before glancing at Fearow's helpless eyes. "Or I could just say fuck it and leave you stuck there, in fact I would be saving myself some valuable time here and let some angry Pidgey and Pidgeotto finish you. But as I said before I'm not a killer." He said finally carving enough space and with a firm grip pulling the woodpecker's beak from the tree.

Fearow, extremely tired by the battle against Pidgeotto and still under effect of his final Feather Dance attacks just laid on the ground.

"But you've already wronged me twice, and I guarantee you there won't be a third one. You won't change like this, and if you run onto someone weaker you could actually kill them. As I said before I'm not a killer, and this includes not turning a blind eye to threats."

"If you change I'll gladly allow you to go back to living in a forest, but for the moment you're a threat, and until I'm sure you changed I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Fearow's eyes widened as he realized what Ash was about to do.

The Vermilion Trainer glanced at the pokémon, with a spare pokéball in hand. "I'm sorry it came down to this. My word probably isn't worth shit for you, but is for me, so Fearow: I Ash Ketchum, born in Pallet Town and raised in Vermilion City, promise I'll take care of you and hopefully release you onto the wild later, but for now, I must capture you." He said kneeling and touching a pokéball at Fearow's head.

One shake

Two shakes

Three shakes

PING!

Capture successful.

He wordlessly took the ball and placed it on the transfer machine Bill gave him at Cerulean Cape. In a flash later the pokéball was gone.

"You think it was the best choice?" Brock asked as he walked beside Ash. The man from Pewter knew Ash sometimes would have moments where he wanted to be along, as it was the case with Fearow back there, so he only watched from the sidelines alongside Pikachu, who took back his place at Ash's shoulder.

He smiled, his smile showing more wisdom than what a fourteen years old was supposed to have. "It isn't about right choices Brocko, it's about the choices that are needed."

"You truly meant what you said to him however right?"

"Of course I did, I'm not someone who tell lies. However this can't be solved right now, Fearow needs time, as I need time too. But in some moment in near future I'll have to face him." Ash's expression then turned confident. "And I'll be ready."

The duo then proceeded to their camp, keen on packing things and finally heading towards Viridian City.

Ash's phone then buzzed, getting the duo's attention.

"Solidad already misses you?" Brock asked teasingly.

"Nah, we're not dating though." Ash said, whilst making a mental note to call the coordinator sometime soon, they agreed it was unwise to have a relationship at this point but nothing prevented him from calling a friend, even more now that he had a Pidgeotto like Solidad.

"So, who was?"

"You know Bill?"

"The pokémon researcher? Ash you didn't told me you were bisexual though, not that I'm discriminating or something like that." Brock quickly added

"Bro, I like women. He's a friend with common goals, he even bailed me out of jail when I was at Cerulean. We made an agreement that he would let me use his cottage to store pokémon in exchange for studying my own pokémon, he's probably texting me the results now." Ash said, opening the message.

_BILL: Hey Ash, those are the data on your pokémon:_

_FEAROW_

_Gender: Male_

_Ability: Sniper (increase damage dealt from critical hits) _

_Attacks: Peck_

_Wing Attack_

_Tackle_

_Fury Attack_

_Pursuit_

_Stats: _

_HP: Slightly above average (C+)_

_Attack: High (B+)_

_Defense: Above average (B-)_

_Sp. Attack: Bellow average (D)_

_Sp. Defense: Average (C)_

_Speed: Slightly above average (C+)_

Ash wasn't sure if he was going to actually use Fearow, but if he did, the pokémon definitively had a place in a supporting role. The Sniper + Drill Peck would turn him into one potent weapon offensively.

Then another message flashed through the screen.

_BILL: SHIT! This Fearow is angry. _

_Ash you caught a psychotic pokémon_

Ash and Brock laughed at the researcher's expenses as the messages kept coming.

_BILL: This isn't funny man. Really how you control this thing?_

_ASH: Just give it space, by the way I'll be sending the Pidgeotto I caught for you to study as soon as I have time._

_BILL: Can I have the Pidgeotto now? Fearow decided that my hair is a good nest._

_ASH: Nah. I'm fine._

**End of Chapter Six**

* * *

Well, this warps things out, next chapter will be covering Ash's return to Viridian and, depending on the size, maybe his actual homecoming to Pallet Town. There's not much to say really, next chapter might take longer, as I said in the beginning I have two exams this week at college, so I'll probably start writing next chapter only the next Monday. Well, trying to no miserably fail at college, have a bit of social life and still watching the NBA playoffs (by the way, Clippers comeback at game two, amazing, just amazing) can take a toll on one's mind.

Now small rant over, let's roll to the answer to the reviews:

**Guest:** When I planned this story I never planned with Solidad or Leaf being Ash's pairing, to be honest I think this is the first story I know where Ash actually gets involved with Solidad. Still, for a writer its hard to change things midstory, Leaf for instance was always developed as a friend rather than a romantic interest, so it'll be just weird for her to suddenly decide to like Ash. Solidad however... I need to see, so far response were positive, but I can't commit, so I'll be taking the wait and see approach mainly because of the sheer singularity of the pairing.

**ultimateCCC:** In my mind Ash's fight with Sabrina has everything to be epic, now I just need to find a way to put it on paper. Regarding the Fuchsia Gym, the leader will be Jasmine, although Ash will be meeting with some of the Elite Four during his journey, Koga included.

**Guest (2): **I really enjoy making those references, so expect to see a lot of them more often. The 2019 Rockets are playing amazing basketball, and in my opinion are the team that has the second most chances of winning, behind the Warriors only. If the Clippers somehow manage to win three more games against the GSW( I'm a Clippers fan and think this to be pretty impossible) I'll probably be rooting against the Rockets, but if things go as they are right now, I'll be supporting your Rockets next round. (No offense to GSW fans, but you can't add Kevin Durant to a 73-9 team and expect other fans to like you.)

**Shane:** Glad you enjoyed, I admit it was pretty fun to write too. Anyway, thanks for the continued reviews.

**UnsanMusho:** I think most of your answers were answered this chapter, if you want next time this happens I can reply through a PM, just let me know. Also, Viridian Gym won't be shut down, so we'll have Giovanni making his debut next chapter.

**Hardwin Potter**(Chapter 1)**:** Thanks for the review, your answer is in chapter three if my memory doesn't fails me. Read and let me know what you think.

**DnK:** Thanks for the review, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**AzureTemplar3535: **I'm glad to be back man, I really missed this. Glad you liked the rewrite, you've been reviewing my stories ever since I was writing Naruto stories, so this truly means a lot to me.


	7. The Viridianazo

Chapter Seven is up. Also a quick heads up, the final scene will have some M rated aspect, the story is already tagged at M, but I warning is in order as those scenes can be a bit meager in Pokémon fanfictions.

Also, quick edit: I made a extremely silly mistake mentioning Bulbasaur as a sole grass type and thus making inacurate statements. This was already edited, but I'd like to apologize for all those who read the original version. A huge shout out to **StallionWolf** for pointing out my mistake quickly.

* * *

_ "It is not defeat that destroys you,it is being demoralized by defeat that destroy you."_ \- Imran Khan

* * *

**Chapter Seven – The Viridianazo**

"There it is: Viridian City." Ash commented to Brock as they reached the final part of Route 2, glancing at the approaching city.

After the entire Fearow incident things went back to the normal as they neared the main trail of the forest, characterized by the vast amount of Bug Catchers. Ash had probably the most boring battle of his life when he faced a trainer who called himself Samurai. The first half of the battle was normal as Squirtle's Skull Bash defense overpowered the opposing Pinsir; the second half however was probably the most boring fifteen minutes of his life: he decided to rest Squirtle and deciding to give his Bulbasaur a run against a pokémon he had type disadvantage, what he didn't expect was for Samurai to use a Metapod whose unique move was Harden, thus unable to cause any kind of damage. Making long things short due to the sheer usage of Harden, Metapod defenses rose stratospherically high and Bulbasaur, whose offensive moveset consisted only of physical moves, barely managed to scratch the opponent, the only way around was for him to use Leech Seed and Poisonpowder and patiently wait for the indirect damage defeat the enemy. To make matters even more annoying, his prize money wasn't enough even to buy a bottle of Fresh Water!

Despite this incident, Ash had his pokémon, mainly Squirtle and Bulbasaur, both whom he thought to be essential for his next match, to work their asses off against the bug types. Squirtle performance was quite good, his balanced moveset of physical, special and added effect moves giving him a decisive edge. Bulbasaur naturally had more difficult and Ash soon learned how nasty type resistance could be, the with several of the opponents spotting a ½ or ¼ resistance.

Paras proved to be his nightmare matchup, due to his usage of different spores and his ¼ resistance to grass attacks. So far, both of the defeats he suffered into the hand of the Grass/Bug dual type.

Ash had his other pokémon to battle against one or other pokémon, mainly to keep their form. Pidgeotto, however was the only exception as Ash wanted to be sure his wing was properly healed before he went fighting again, there was no point to compromise his pokémon health at this point.

As the duo travelled through the city, Ash couldn't help but notice how things were different from Vermilion. Despite having roughly the same population numbers as Vermilion, Viridian was a stark contrast, here Ash felt in those American moves where the protagonist lived on those houses in the suburbs with green grass and clean streets. Vermilion had his own shine, mainly on the richest areas, but overall the city was much unplanned, with irregular houses and failing services such as water drainage and trash collect recurring from that.

His phone ringed and he glanced at the screen: Video call from Scott, talk about coincidence. Ash answered the call whilst keeping his pace to the Pokémon Center.

"Hey Ash!" Scott greeted, his usual self, curly light brown hair, sunglasses and Hawaiian pattern t-shirt flashing through the screen.

"Scott, long time no see." Ash greeted back.

"You're already in Viridian?" the magnate inquired, causing Ash to frown.

"Yeah…but how you knew that I was coming to Viridian?" the trainer inquired.

"Bill told me."

"You know Bill?"

"We're both from PFP (Pokémon for People), actually I'm their leader."

The Pokémon for People is an organization that seeks to once again popularize the usage of pokémon as opposed to the Pokémon League and Pokémon Protection Agency (PPA) strict rules. Ash had a divided opinion on the matter, he knew how much pokémon could change people's lives but still preached some caution, Damian, Charmeleon's former trainer being the number one example of why you shouldn't trust pokémon to anyone. Despite this, Leaf, one of Ash's closest friends and Scott's niece, and several of the people who helped him such as Bill and Scott himself were from this NGO, so he had a tendency to side with them.

"I see, didn't knew that." He commented

"Well, the reason I called you is to invite you to bunk into my house for your stay here."

This caught Ash by surprise. First things first, house was a large understatement, Scott lived on a mansion. So bunking on a mansion instead of the crumpled Pokémon Center? A hundred percent yes.

"I greatly appreciate the offer, but I'm travelling with a friend…"

"No problems." Scott cut him off. "We have plenty of space."

"_You sure do."_ He thought. "Thanks Scott, we'll be there soon."

"Okay, see you soon, also forgot to mention, there's someone who wants to see you."

"Who?"

"Surprise." Scott said with a grin, finishing the call.

"Hey Brock, change of plans, your boy here got ourselves a mansion to bunk in." he bragged.

Brock seemed a bit taken aback, but soon grinned. "So let's check our pokémon at the center and go."

* * *

"He was under attack from a flock of Fearow when we found him, his back and wing severely hurt." Ash explained to the Nurse Joy as he gave her Pidgeotto's pokéball. "My friend had a look at him, bandaged his wounds and fed him with some special food, but there wasn't too much to do at the forest."

"Well, we will take an x-ray and see if Pidgeotto healed properly, looks fine to me but I only will be sure when the results came out." Joy said as she left the reception.

About thirty minutes Joy came back with a smile plastered on his face. "Pidgeotto is fully recovered, I saw the handwork on his stiches and I must admit it has been long since I saw something so good, whoever your friend was, he really knew what he was doing."

Seeing Brock enter the reception at exactly the same time and eager to show his appreciation for his help during the journey, he decided to be his bro's wingman.

"He's actually here." He said before getting his friend's attention. "Hey Brock, come here for a second."

The former Rock type gym leader's eyes widened for a moment before he happily joined the conversation.

"Nurse Joy took a look at the stiches and the treatment you gave Pidgeotto, she was pretty impressed with your work."

"Yeah, it was pretty impressive; it even puts some of our doctors to shame." Joy added eyeing Brock.

"Well, it was nothing really…" Brock trailed off blushing a bit at the praise and scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"There's no need to be humble right now, Brock." Ash cut him off with a wave of his hand

"Your friend is definitively correct." Joy added. "You sure must be studying to be a pokémon doctor."

"Well, no." Brock admitted, causing Joy to gasp in surprise.

"So you're a natural! You should definitively apply, we always need more people to save pokémon's lives."

Seeing the perfect opportunity to seal the deal for his friend Ash quickly interjected. "I agree wholeheartedly with Joy here, although Pewter City Police Department will surely be disappointed."

"Huh?" Joy asked in confusion

"You see, a few weeks ago there was an attempted robbery at the Pewter Natural History Museum, Brock here was one of the keys to stopping their attempt, he even saved my life in the process, Officer Jenny was adamant in praising Brock's accomplishments." Ash said, quickly taking his phone and showing Joy a picture that was taken after the failed attempt, with both him and Brock featuring. Solidad also appeared on the shot, hugging him whilst he proudly showed off the Old Amber he received; Officer Jenny appeared besides Brock who held the Dome and Helix Fossils.

"WOW! I'm talking to a hero!" Joy gushed, her attention totally on Brock.

"_Hook, line and sinker." _Ash thought in triumph, before excusing himself to give the pair some privacy.

* * *

After a few minutes, Brock left the Poké Center with a sit eating grin. He glanced at Ash and did a bow to him.

"The God of the Wingmen." He said, fake tears cascading through his face in a comical manner.

"I take things went well." The younger trainer replied with a sly grin.

"Yep, I'm going to pick her up after her shift, take her to a date, and if things go well…" he said only to be interrupted by Ash.

"I know, The Pipe."

"Damn right!" Brock yelled enthusiastically. "But really man, thanks, it truly means a lot."

"Think nothing of it friend, besides you helped me with Solidad in Pewter anyway." Ash replied dismissively.

"Now that I come to think of it, I never asked for the full details, you scored a homerun?"

Ash chuckled at the terminology, before shaking his head dismissively. "It wasn't right, I'm just fourteen, Solidad is fifteen, and I don't want my first time to be meaningless. It may come out as girly but that's just the way I am."

"I understand perfectly." Brock replied. "I personally just want to have my fair share of fun before settling down, my parents married way too soon and you know how things went."

Ash nodded. "My mother was 22 when she had me. I must've been though to throw away your entire life away to just take care of a kid, even worst being alone." Ash added bitterly.

"I take you never knew your father, but tell me: if you had the chance you'd met him?"

Ash looked pensive. "I'd probably want to know him and his reasons for leaving my mother the way he did. But I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive and have a properly father-son relationship with him."

"I know how it feels, my father calls me almost everyday, says he wants to be my father again, but he's already ten years late. Still I can't shut him down completely too. "

"I the best advice I can give you is to take your time, you're still young, we're still young, if you think there's a small chance of forgiving him don't shut him down, but if you think there's a small chance of reject him don't rush yourself to accept him back either."

The duo kept walking, heading towards Scott's residence, in a point Ash decided to bring a past topic.

"You know, Brock, I agree with Joy in one point, you should probably think about studying to become a pokémon doctor. She didn't praised you for nothing, it really seems like you have the potential."

"Going to college…" Brock trailed off. "I never saw this as an option, I don't even know if this is possible."

"If you have a High School Diploma you're eligible, you took the Pokémon League supplementary courses?" Ash asked

The Pokémon League, concerned with the education of some of the trainers who left to journey early in their lives and thus missed some the high school years, designed a program that would give trainers a degree equivalent of the high school. The classes would only take a maximum of three months and the exams would happen during the League's offseason, so even trainers that competed would be able to obtain the degree.

"Yeah, I have the High School diploma, but never took interest at colleges, they're expensive, and I had to take care of my siblings."

"Well, now you don't. Besides, there are several scholarships programs for trainers."

"I'm not sure yet man…" Brock trailed off once again. "What about you?"

"Right now I have no interest on college, but it was always my plan B. I even was offered some sports scholarships from some colleges in Hoenn and Johto."

"You do play basketball well." Brock agreed. "But nothing related to pokémon?"

"Not trying to sound disrespectful, but I don't need anyone to teach me how to take care of my pokémon, and I have no interest in becoming a Professor, so if I really went to college I'd probably chose an normal degree, maybe engineering since I live in Vermilion, so I could work at a high paying job at the docks if I choose naval engineering or do an electrical engineering degree and work at the Power Plant." Ash explained. "Or I could even play professional sports, besides playing basketball I also played football and I was quite good."

They kept talking until Ash came to a halt, stopping in front of Scott's mansion.

"Your friend lives here?" Brock asked gawking at the large yard covered in grass and large Pokémon designed fountains.

"Yeah, he's Leaf's uncle and helped me with Pichu once." Ash explained whilst ringing the buzzer. "It's Ash." He said, causing the gate to open.

The duo quickly passed through the large yard and made their way to the main room, Ash vaguely remembering his first time here.

They quickly reached the main room, a gigantic space, with mahogany wood floor and styled in a gothic house fashion. Scott completely stood out from his own house, with his white crocs, white cargo shorts and blue Hawaiian shirt, with white details. He wore also wore sunglasses, much to Ash's surprise since they were inside a room. The man sitting into one of the chairs looked a lot more gothic than Scott. He has black shot cropped hair, with small white streaks, black eyes and a slightly tanned skin, wearing a formal business black suit, with black pants, grey undershirt and a red tie.

"Ash, it's great to see you." Scott exclaimed, greeting him with a handshake.

"It's great to see you too, by the way thanks for letting us bunk here." Ash said whilst shaking his hand. "This is Brock, former gym leader of Pewter, he's travelling with me." Ash said gesturing to Brock.

"It's nice to meet you, Brock." Scott replied whilst shaking the former gym leader hand, then gesturing to the man who sat at the chair. "Since introductions are in order, I'd like to introduce you to Giovanni, he's Viridian City very own gym leader."

The man slowly rose from the chair, glancing at the duo. "You resemble your father a lot." He said to Brock before giving Ash a look over, before concluding. "And you look a lot like your mother."

"You knew my mother?" Ash asked, clearly surprised

"Yes, I did, it's truly unfortunate that she passed away so soon." He commented giving Ash a sympathetic look. "I think I can say I was a friend of Delia."

"Really?" Ash asked, interested at the leader.

"Yes, we meet at Pallet, when I was getting my first pokémon; I got lost and asked her for directions. We became friends after that and everytime I visited Palled I would met her. To be honest I lost contact with her about ten years ago, I only found out she was dead about two years ago and I only found out about you being a pokémon trainer because of Scott there." The gym leader explained pointing to Leaf's uncle.

"We were talking about upcoming trainers and I ended up mentioning you, since Ketchum isn't a common name we did the math and things clicked." The owner of the mansion explained.

Ash nodded in understanding, before turning once again to Giovanni. "I'm sorry to ask this right now but there's any possibility of battling you anytime soon?"

Giovanni frowned. "How many badges you have?"

"Two badges, Cascade and the Boulder."

"You're not ready." Giovanni said abruptly.

"Ash, I clearly trust your abilities but if I were you I'd reconsider this if I were you. Viridian's gym isn't placed near the gateway for the Indigo Plateau for no reason. Giovanni here is the strongest gym leader in Kanto; he even was regarded as a candidate for the Elite Four." Scott added, causing Ash to frown.

He was already used to this before he became a trainer, people at school, the docks and the hood would ask him his dream, only to mock him and say it was impossible for him to become a trainer. Now Scott and Giovanni were doing the same, and he was having none of it.

"Well, far from wanting to disrespect you two, but I think only I know if I'm ready or not. I've worked my ass off, my pokémon worked their asses off, if we are confident in ourselves we are ready."

"Ash…" Scott began, only to be interrupted by Giovanni.

"Let's make a wager, one pokémon. If you knock out one of my pokémon I'll accept your challenge at my gym and will admit that I was wrong about you."

"And if I lose?"

"You won't be able to challenge this gym until you have all the other badges."

Ash nodded. "Let's do this, lead the way to your gym."

"That won't be necessary; I have an arena in the underground." Scott said.

"Very well, lead the way then." Giovanni replied.

* * *

The group took an elevator that led to the basement of Scott's mansion, there Ash was surprised to see an extremely modern training facility, alongside several battlefields, eighteen to be exact, apparently one for each type. Ash raised a questioning eyebrow at Scott, who chuckled.

"I'm planning something big for the future." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

They walked until they came into what seemed like a nineteenth arena although this particular one was much bigger and had a referee's pod and a scoreboard. The setup looked a bit like a plain field, made entirely by dirt and clay with no discernible features, leaving a 'clean' field. Three lamps were tied to the ceiling through iron chains.

"Pokémon League regulated issue, similar to the ones at the Indigo Conference." Scott explained further. "Brock can you referee the battle? I'll handle the scoreboard and the terrain."

Brock nodded, climbing the pod and taking two flags, one red and one green. "This will be a battle between Giovanni from Viridian City and challenger Ash Ketchum from Vermilion City, as agreed by the opponents, Giovanni will only use one pokémon, whilst the challenger can use the maximum and will be allowed to switch pokémon. That being said, trainers send out your first pokémon." Brock said extending the flags sidewards.

"Go, Rhydon."

Rhydon, a large bipedal pokémon looked like an offspring of a rhinoceros and a dinosaur would look. It has narrow, red eyes and two fangs in its upper jaw. On the tip of its snout is a cream-colored horn, which is smaller on a female than a male. There are several other spikes and projections on its head: on top is spike that curves forward, two triangular points resembling ears on the sides, a wide, wavy crest under each ear, and spiky ridges on each cheek. It has a cream-colored abdomen divided into strips by thin divots. A rocky plate on its chest slightly overlaps its abdomen. There is a row of spikes down its back, and has a long tail with thin, black stripes.

"Bulbasaur, I count on you."

A small popping noise alerted Ash to the modern scoreboard.

**GIOVANNI 0 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

Ash focused on the battle, Bulbasaur had a crushing four times super effective advantage, but nothing was given.

"Bulbasaur let's start using Leech Seed."

The grass starter nodded, making seed pop out of the bulb in his back and towards the opposing Rhydon.

"Use Dig and evade towards the underground." Giovanni replied calmly.

Rhydon then dived headfirst into the underground, his horn rotating in a drill pattern, and managing to avoid the seeds thrown at him.

Bulbasaur kept still, looking around to see if there was any kind of movement that would give Rhydon's position.

Ash knew Bulbasaur was one of his slowest pokémon, so he quickly made a plan on the fly.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to hoist yourself towards the chains."

The grass type, already familiarized by this particular strategy quickly swung himself towards the chains, currently being suspended above the ground., looking intently to the battlefield from a privileged viewpoint.

"Clever move." Giovanni praised, before smirking. "But still not nearly enough. Rhydon, come out now."

The dual type soon leapt out from below, aiming towards Bulbasaur.

"Now it's our chance. He can't evade, fire Razor Leaf, full power!" Ash yelled.

Small, sharp leaves then emerged from the grass type's bulb, before glowing green and heading towards Rhydon.

"Truck through and finish him with Horn Attack." Giovanni commanded

The armored pokémon then braced itself for the impact, the sharp leaves bouncing from his skin like rubber, greatly surprising Ash, and Bulbasaur.

Ash regained his composure. "Dodge!" he yelled, but Bulbasaur couldn't avoid in time being hit by the attack. The attack sent the grass type pummeling towards the ceiling, crashing and falling once again, instantly fainting him.

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle." Brock said whilst extending his green flag towards Giovanni. "Challenger, please send out your next pokémon."

Ash sighed, type-wise he blew up a big advantage. He should've drained Rhydon first, he looked up at the scoreboard.

**GIOVANNI 1 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

He was behind, but hopefully not for long.

"Pidgeotto, go!"

The bird pokémon came out of his pokéball, gliding in front of Ash.

"Pidgeotto, use Feather Dance." Ash commanded.

The flying type opened his wings, firing a barrage of pale blue glowing feathers towards the opponent.

"Answer back with Rock Blast."

Two rings, composed of rock fragments encircled Rhydon, spinning until they obtained a white glow, then Rhydon extended his arms, firing two concentrated spheres towards Pidgeotto. The first sphere collided with the feather barrage, completely dispelling the attack whilst not losing much power, being followed in a tow by a second blast.

"Evade quickly."

Using his prodigal speed, the flying type easily managed to avoid the dual blast, and began to circle Rhydon from the above.

"_If I can't get closer, attacking from long distance will have to do."_ Ash thought.

"Pidgeotto, use Twister."

The evolved pokémon quickly flapped his wings and created a small whirlwind, which carried some of the dirt from the ground, before directing it at Rhydon.

Giovanni said nothing as the attack connected; there was no point in trying to avoid this. The dirt that was carried alongside the attack also managed to intrude Rhydon's vision. Giovanni waited for the whirlwind to cease in order to call his attack.

"Rhydon, use Smack Down."

The dual type then materialized a rocky orb, which glint a metallic orange, and flung it towards Pidgeotto.

Knowing the attack's effects, Ash was quick to think of a strategy. "Pidgeotto, evade this using Double Team to confuse him, then use Twister once again."

The bird pokémon quickly produced an afterimage of itself, before firing a Twister attack towards Rhydon, the opponent's Smack Down hitting Pidgeotto's Double Team.

Seeing the attack connect once again, Ash smirked, no matter how strong you are if you can't connect an attack.

Pidgeotto and Ash kept deploying the gun and run strategy, taking advantage of the difference in speed to outmaneuver Rhydon, he already connected about five attacks and although the opposing pokémon seemed unaffected, it seemed to begin suffering from exertion. He could continue to wear Rhydon out and bring Charmeleon or Squirtle to finish the job.

"We can do this Pidgeotto, keep pushing on." Ash called from the sideline.

Giovanni then smirked. "Always be aware of the surroundings." He said ominously.

Ash looked puzzled for a minute before his eyes widened in realization; Pidgeotto was hovering above one of the holes created by Rhydon's Dig.

"Pidgeotto, quick…"

"It's no use, Rhydon use Stone Edge."

Before Ash even managed to finish his sentence, sharp stone pillars emerged from the ground, impacting at Pidgeotto. When the flurry of stones stopped emerging Pidgeotto had swirls in his eyes.

Brock once again pointed the green flag towards Giovanni. "Pidgeotto is unable to battle. Challenger, please send out your next pokémon."

Ash called Pidgeotto back to his pokéball. "I'm sorry." he muttered, before glancing at the scoreboard:

**GIOVANNI 2 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

"_He's good, he's the best I've faced so far, but I can't lose, there must be something to exploit."_

"Persian, let's go." He said, calling forth his third pokémon.

Upon seeing Ash's choice Giovanni smiled. "That's a strong Persian, I have one too."

"_There must be a gap somewhere…"_ Ash thought.

"Persian, use Screech, let's lower those defenses."

The normal type let out a high pitched shriek, causing Rhydon to groan in pain.

"Rhydon, use Rock Blast to counter this." Giovanni called out.

The dual type then created three rings made of stones, before enclosing them in three medium sized white orbs and throwing them toward Persian.

"Persian, you're quicker, zigzag around this and use Bite."

The feline pokémon easily sidestepped the attack, before lunging towards the rhinoceros, his jaws opening in a menacing fashion.

"Grab him." The gym leader yelled.

Rhydon then moved his right arm to block Persian's attack, causing the attack to hit him. The rhinoceros slightly grimaced before launching his left arm to grab Persian's torso.

"Now, use Megahorn."

Rhydon's horn started to glow, before extending and hitting Persian from point blank range.

Persian cried in pain, still fighting to free himself from Rhydon's death grip, but was still conscious.

"Your pokémon fights bravely." Giovanni praised. "But still not nearly enough. Rhydon, use Megahorn once again."

This time Persian didn't managed to resist, fainting with swirls in his eyes.

Ash sighed, paying no attention to Brock calling the match and once again stared at the scoreboard.

**GIOVANNI 3 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

"_I can't give up now." _Ash though, trying to keep himself thinking positively.

"Charmeleon, I need your help." Ash said, calling out his fire type.

"Ah, a Charmeleon, had one of these too." Giovanni remarked from his spot.

"Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage."

The fire lizard let out a stream of purplish energy out of his mouth and towards Rhydon.

"Ah! Using Dragon Rage to bypass Rhydon's defenses, once again a clever strategy, although once again not nearly enough." Giovanni said. "Rhydon, use Dig."

The dual type once again dug his way into the underground, with Charmeleon's move sailing past him.

"Stand your ground Charmeleon and stay focused."

Seeing the ground starting to shake, Ash gave his pokémon a nod, causing him to leap high above, with Rhydon coming out a second later, his horn spinning wildly, signaling a Horn Attack.

"Charmeleon, use Metal Claw and perform a cross guard."

The fire type claws then obtained a metallic glow and were crossed in multiple X pattern. A second latter Rhydon's attack impacted at the guard, causing sparks to fly.

"He's open now, fire using your Dragon Rage." Ash called out, as once again purple energy streamed out of the fire pokémon's mouth, this time however impacting at Rhydon who went down crashing towards the ground.

"Great!" Ash yelled out. _"Maybe I can still win this after all."_

"Not bad kid. Still we won't lose." Giovanni said. "Rhydon, use Rock Blast."

This time four rings encircled the opposing pokémon, who fired them at Charmeleon.

Ash smirked remembering his training at Viridian Forest. "Charmeleon, let's play some baseball, use Metal Claw to deflect those strikes."

The evolved lizard's claw once again obtained a metallic glow, as he used them to send two of the blasts crashing towards each other, annulling the four strikes in the process.

"Great job Charmeleon."

"Not bad at all, but let's see how you handle this: Rhydon, lunge forward with Horn Attack."

The rhinoceros once again had a spiraling horn aimed towards Charmeleon.

"Watch out the horn, use Metal Claw to defend and once again fire a Dragon Rage."

As soon as the horn neared Charmeleon, using the cross guard strategy managed to hold Rhydon and readied his Dragon Rage.

"Rhydon, now use Hammer Arm." Giovanni called out.

With his claws being used to block Horn Attack, Charmeleon was overpowered before being crushed to the ground by a Hammer Strike, causing dirt to rise.

When it cleared, Charmeleon was unconscious.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle." Brock said whilst, once again pointing his flag towards Giovanni.

Ash called Charmeleon back, his expression unreadable.

**GIOVANNI 4 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

He turned to the rodent atop his shoulder. "Up for a battle?"

Pikachu, nodded, taking his place.

"Pikachu, use Sweet Kiss."

In other circumstances, the shiny rodent would've glared at his trainer, but this time things were more serious. He rushed forward, nearing Rhydon.

"Earthquake." Giovanni said in a bored tone.

Rhydon then summoned a Earthquake, Pikachu, who seemed only focused on nearing Rhydon, didn't notice he was nearing one of the holes and tripped, being hit by the strike and fainting.

**GIOVANNI 5 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

Ash recalled his strongest pokémon, who was knocked out with significant ease, by a pokémon who fought five battles and wasn't fazed at all.

There was no pointing in continuing this even further, he was foolish. As he was about to forfeit; a pokéball burst out of his belt, revealing Squirtle.

Ash didn't said nothing, neither did the turtle pokémon, but they knew what each other were feeling. Despite Ash's seemed resignation, Squirtle still wanted his shot at Rhydon, mainly to prove himself.

Ash couldn't help but smile at his pokémon enthusiasm, and then he remembered that whilst his pokémon believed he would believe too.

"If you believe I'll believe in it too. Let's do it then. Water gun." He called out.

"Truck through and use Horn Attack."

Squirtle unleashed a stream of water, who came directly in contact with Rhydon's horn, although the dual type kept moving forward.

"Full Power!" Ash commanded as the water pressure intensified, and for a second Rhydon came to a halt, before groaning and charging towards Squirtle, once again, this time managing to slam his horn at the water type's shell and thus sending him crashing towards the wall.

Squirtle got up once again, although his expression showed he was in pain. Seeing his pokémon willpower, Ash was once again inspired to believe.

"We need more power, use Water Pulse."

"Charge at it using Megahorn."

Rhydon horn started to glow and this time able to easily overpower the smaller pokémon, sending Squirtle crashing to the walls once again.

Giovanni then turned to Ash. "My point is proven, you still have a lot to learn before you're…"

The gym leader was suddenly cut off by a loud cry. "Squirrr…" His eyes then landed at the bruised form of Squirtle, who despite barely being able to stand on his own legs, became enveloped by a light blue aura, his once reddish eyes shining blue.

"As long as I live I'll believe my pokémon." Ash said, before addressing his own pokémon. "Squirtle, thanks for restoring my faith in my skills, I promise I'll do my best."

The turtle pokémon nodded, becoming enveloped in energy as his body started to change. As the light faded, Squirtle was gone, being replaced by Wartortle.

He kept most of his original body structure, although he definitively became bigger. His red eyes changed to brown, and his skin became darker, adopting a tone of navy blue as opposed to the previously sky blue. Two sharp teeth protruded from his jaw, and two even darker blue markings appeared on his cheeks. Two winged pattern ears protruded from the top of his head and he gained a wavy light blue tail, which matched the tone of the 'wings'.

"Tortle!" the newly evolved pokémon yelled

"Very well then…" Giovanni said. "Rhydon finish him with Megahorn."

"Let's show him our value Wartortle." Ash yelled. "Do a full powered Water Pulse."

Wartortle then changed the Water Pulse to a most concentrated stream of water, which had vibrations in his flux, as opposed to the usual expanding circle format. Rhydon charged again, keen on ending the battle, but found resistance when his horn collided with the pulse. The resistance turned into competition, as Rhydon suddenly had to fight to not be pushed back by the water stream. In his last attempt, Wartortle let out a feral cry, and as he started to collapse, the last thing he saw was his opponent being pushed towards the wall by a ferocious attack.

Ash held out his breath, as the water cleared. Wartortle was already beaten, but this didn't mean Rhydon had won. Finally the opponent once again was visible. He was heavily tired, panting even and had a few more scratches, but was standing. Ash looked up to the scoreboard for the final time.

**GIOVANNI 6 - 0 ASH KETCHUM**

He, despite his pokémon efforts, was easily crushed by the opponent.

"You have potential, but still isn't ready for my gym, come back when you have seven badges." Giovanni said, recalling Rhydon and leaving the field.

The Vermilion Trainer face turned into an expressionless one as he called back his final pokémon. Brock and Scott headed towards him as he managed to fake a smile.

"Guess I wasn't ready." He said, looking at the duo who probably was debating whether they would say to him. Deciding to spare them, Ash quickly made his voice heard. "I'll be heading towards the pokémon center to heal my pokémon."

* * *

It took apparently fifteen minutes to head from Scott's mansion, and those were probably the longest fifteen minutes of his life. The memories from the previous battle flooding Ash's mind. How easily his team was crushed by Rhydon. How powerless he was. How his hardworking pokémon were reduced to mere Caterpie being burned by a Charizard. How puny he looked and how faraway his dream looked now. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, six green flags lifted by Brock, the flashy scoreboard showing the undeniable reality: GIOVANNI 6 - 0 ASH KETCHUM.

He had already lost battles before, but not like this, never like this, it was like a kid playing a men's game. What he felt like today probably was the same thing the Brazilian football team felt when they lost to Germany at the World Cup. Utter humiliation and powerlessness.

"They'll be healed in one hour." Nurse Joy informed after he entrusted her with his pokéballs.

Ash nodded, before addressing her once again. "There's a shower I can use?"

"Sure, take the first stairway and then enter your second right."

* * *

The water cascading through his naked body couldn't be colder, still it wasn't enough to cool his head down. He felt the awfulness of the cold and the heat combined, and suddenly he had to bite his cheeks to prevent himself from yelling in frustration. He then punched the wall, hard, the pain being nothing to his clouded mind, as the mocking scoreboard seemed to grin at him: GIOVANNI 6 - 0 ASH KETCHUM.

Ash probably was still under the freezing cold water for another thirty minutes, until he glanced at his right hand, the one which he used to punch the wall. The cold water mixed with his tears of anger and the red blood mixing into one. Seeing red didn't faze him at all, he only extended his arm before clenching his fist, as a sudden promise came to his mind.

"Never again." He said lowly.

Never again to being outclassed. Never again to being outsmarted. Never again to having his dream staying just a dream. Never again to having his pokémon suffer from his lack of preparation. Never again to being mocked. Never again to going down without a fight.

He then clenched his fists once again, this time so hard blood started to pour over gain from his wound.

"Never Again."

**End of Chapter Seven**

* * *

This chapter has around 6k words, however I felt like it was shorter, due to the small amounts of story progression. When I was writing this chapter I decided it would be better to stop at this point in order to be able to advance things properly in the next one. Next chapter will probably cover Ash's stay in Viridian, with Scott making him a business proposal and his homecoming at Pallet Town, whilst dealing with the aftermath of his defeat at this chapter. Although I warned beforehand and tagged the story as M, I completely understand if there's someone who felt offended by the shower scene as there's a small amount of self-harm. That being said I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please take your time to leave a review at the end, this truly means a lot to me and, will in a indirect manner will speed up the writing as far as possible. Also for today's trivia: this chapter's name makes a reference to the Mineirazo, the infamous Brasil 1-7 Germany game at the 2014 World Cup.

* * *

Now, to the reviews answers:

**Haro654: **Thanks for the review, Fearow will be Ash's very own angry bird. Whilst he won't appear the next few chapter he will eventually be added to Ash's lineup.

**Shane:** Thanks for the suggestion, to be honest most of my knowledge of Pokemon comes from the anime and games, so it will be interesting to see the manga's take on the events. Currently I have little to no time, but I'll probably read it someday. Also, happy Easter, although I'm a week late.

**UnsanMusho****: **You were right, Giovanni was too much for Ash to handle and he suffered his first crushing defeat. Thanks for the review.

**Jerrend**: Thanks for reviewing, I'm happy the Author's note managed to bring back some of the readers from the original version.

**frankieu: **Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed Brock tagging along, hopefully you'll find his scenes in this chapter amusing.

**StallionWolf: **Don't worry, Ash will still be paired with May as the planned. Advanceshipping is my personal favorite and I can't wait to bring those two together.

**AzureTemplar3535:** I'm glad you liked these scenes, as always, thanks for the review.

**DriftingGem: **Thanks for the corrections, I'll be editing the chapters with the fixes tonight.

**ultimateCCC: **Thanks for the review. Ash will probably meet Domino sometime in this story, although I don't plan on having him charming her. As for your suggestion with Chansey, there's a good reasoning in it, but I feel like it would be most interesting if it ended up with Brock, since he's considering applying for Pokémon Med School.

* * *

This concludes chapter seven, as I said above please keep reviewing. Chapter Eight will probably be released next week


	8. The New Ketchum: Homecoming

Before I start this chapter I'd like to point that there were two major mistakes in Chapter 7. Mistake number one was wrongly stating that Bulbasaur was a sole grass type, whilst he actually was a Grass/Poison type. Mistake number two wasn't actually my fault, due to issue with the doc manager the scoreboard was cut out, thus leaving out the actual score, the solution for that problem was then to use the 6 - 0 format instead of the previous one (6 x 0). Both mistakes were already corrected, but if you felt Chapter 7 wasn't readable, I'd highly suggest rereading it before starting with this one. Also as a minor aesthetic change I updated this story's cover to represent Pikachu instead of Pichu.

Finally, please check the reviews answers at the end of the chapter, there's an important topic being discussed and I'd like to hear your thoughts on the future of this story.

Now, notes aside, I present you with Chapter 8 of Zero to Hero – Reload.

* * *

_"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat."_ \- F. Scott Fitzgerald

* * *

**Chapter Eight - Ash "Red" Ketchum 2.0: Homecoming**

"You're looking sharp Ketchum." Brock commented as Ash stared at the mirror, trying his new clothes.

"I'm truly flattered, but unfortunately I don't swing that way." Ash replied jokingly.

The trainer then glanced at the mirror. Earlier today he went to an apparel shop to buy a sort of pendant he could place Pikachu's Light Ball, so the rodent wouldn't have to battle without one of his paws. He ended up stumbling onto a sale off, and decided to spare a few bucks since only having two changes of clothes was truly getting on his nerves.

This was what he said to Brock at least. The thing is that after the embarrassing defeat he suffered in Giovanni's hands he decided a 'change of identity' was in order. It was rather silly but he still felt good about it and he was pretty sure he didn't go overboard with the change. In fact he had to agree with Brock's statement, he indeed looked sharp.

He now wore black combat boots with very small white details, dark blue jeans and a black V-neck undershirt. A dark green bomber jacket, which he kept unzipped and showing the undershirt. He also changed the necklace he had gotten from his mother, attaching the silver colored wing he found at the Nugget Bridge. The finishing touches came from the accessories he added, a pair of black fingerless gloves with red details and to finish a slim red scarf he tied around his neck with a simple knot, acting much more as a second necklace rather than an actual scarf.

"Well, what do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked, turning to the rodent who was feasting at a bottle of ketchup.

The rodent now proudly displayed his own necklace, a simple pendant which contained the Light Ball, attached to a black chain. He gave Ash approving thumbs up, before returning his attention to the real love of his life: the ketchup.

Ash sighed. "Sometimes I think ketchup will leave me bankrupt." He then turned to Brock. "So how the date with Joy went?"

Brock just grinned. "A gentleman never discusses his conquests."

Ash shook his head amusedly. "You should show more respect to the guy who helped you getting the date."

The former gym leader just smiled, clearly enjoying the banter with his friend, before straightening up again. "Hurry up man, Scott said he wants to talk with you, alone."

Ash finished tying the scarf. "Easy now, you can't rush perfection." He said cockily before bursting out laughing. "Shit I'm starting to sound like Gary."

* * *

"So, let me see if I get things straight. You want me to create an Instagram?" Ash asked clearly confused as he sat in front of Scott in his personal study.

"I want you to start working on your public image, creating an Instagram is just a small part of that."

"Scott, no offense" Ash began carefully; he didn't wanted to insult the man who had been housing him in his own house. ", but you know I don't like getting that much of the media attention, I'm not a showoff, in fact I don't have anything to show off."

Scott nodded. "Ash, sometimes isn't about what you want but about what is the best for you. Tell me, what I am?"

Ash looked confused for a second. "Leaf's uncle?" Scott then signaled him to say more. "A businessman?" the older man once again beckoned Ash to develop even more. "You're the president of the PFP movement?"

Scott, seemingly satisfied, nodded. "A businessman always seeks profit, so I'll be blunt with you: I see you as a great asset. Besides, I feel like I can use your image to strengthen the PFP position, the fact you're my niece's childhood friend only sweetens the deal even more."

Ash nodded, seeing where this conversation was going. "You want to be my agent."

Scott shook his head. "In the future I'd like that. For now I'm mostly interested in establishing a cooperation agreement of sorts."

Ash silently nodded. "What kind of agreement?"

"Ash, you're one of the most promising trainers from the new generation, my proposal is to capitalize on your image, and giving both, me, you and the PFP, profits."

"I can see where you're getting at. If you became my agent you'd be able to negotiate endorsements, thus giving sponsorship money for both of us." The trainer then frowned. "But I fail to see where the PFP would fit in this equation."

"In marketing terms the higher the standing your public image has, the higher your value, and, by association, the higher the standing and value of the brands that you associate yourself with." Scott then took out a flier from his drawer, handling it to Ash.

The trainer gave the flier a look over; it was from the PFP, before taking it and quickly reading it.

"…"

"So, what do you think of it?" Scott asked

"Some of your points are valid. Pokémon can change people's life for better, I think me and Pikachu are examples of that, and it isn't a one sided relationship, I've came across people who spent their lives in helping people." Ash then threw the flier back to Scott. "Still mankind is rotten, I'd risk saying that for every person caring about pokémon there are three others who hurt them."

Scott frowned a bit. "So what's your solution for that problem?"

"I absolutely have no idea, I'm not a thinker. The current system is faulted, and that's the truth. But I don't think the model you propose would be better. It would only increase the number of both good and bad people who have access for pokémon."

"So you agree with the current rules?"

"When I didn't have the Trainer's License no, now that I have…it doesn't matter for me." Ash explained.

"I see. But tell me, if you could influence one's life to love and treat pokémon well, would you do it?"

"Yes. But I'm not a role model material. I don't like the attention."

"Ash, as you grow older sometimes you'll realize you have to change some things about yourself for the greater good."

Ash frowned. "I don't disagree, but I can't support something I don't believe."

Scott then took a file from the drawer and handled it to Ash.

Ash wordlessly took the file and read it slowly. It was a career plan Scott designed for him, in a way that it would also benefit his own organization and finances. Simplifying it consisted of a series of strategies that consisted on increasing his fan base through social media and then using this popularity to get public exposition in ads and endorsements. Besides those strategies, there were projections graphs for earnings for Ash and exposure for the PFP.

Seeing the figures at the 'expected revenue' section, Ash turned to Scott. "You think it's possible for me to gain that much in a single year?"

"If things go as planned, yes you can. However the final result isn't predictable, it can be smaller" Scott then grinned "or higher".

Ash seemed pensive for a minute. "I want to be a part of the entire process, no prepared statements and no changing who I am. I won't deny my origins."

"Fair enough, in fact we will use your background as a plus for both our plans. The whole trainer who came out of a bad neighborhood image will help our organization, showing how far pokémon-human cooperation can take people."

"As I said I don't want to play no games, I'll be a hundred percent honest with you as long as you're a hundred percent honest with me."

Scott then offered a hand to Ash, who took and shook it with a firm grip.

The trainer then turned to Scott. "So, what's the first step, the file said that I'd be using social media, but how exactly?"

"You'll just use the Pokémon League page and the social media such as Instagram and Twitter to make yourself noticeable, remember what you said to me four years ago?"

Ash then nodded with a smirk. "They'll know my name."

"Right, for this to really work people will really need to know your name. I want you being active but not overly so. Once or twice a week, take time to answer some of your fans, keep people updated about what you're doing and try to be natural about it."

Ash nodded. "I think it's easier said than done but I'm willing to try it. Anything more I should focus on?"

"To be honest, yes, there's something more. You're a good-looking guy, and you have a very special Pikachu alongside you, so I'd suggest you to focus on that, bring the female fans to you side, I'm not saying for you to be obscene or vulgar, just be yourself, and try to share the spotlight with Pikachu, strong pokémon draw attention, shiny pokémon draw attention, strong and shiny pokémon are a unique thing."

Ash nodded. "So, I need to sign a contract with you or something like that?"

"Not yet. I don't want people to think I'm creating a trainer. I'll start to mention you in the big circles, then when you're famous enough and have your own reputation established I'll officially sign you." The businessman explained.

Ash nodded, turning to leave, only to come to a half a turn to Scott again. "Why are you doing this for me? With this offer you could go to any elite trainer prep school in the country and pick anyone you wanted, so why me?"

Scott smiled. "Because, first of all, I'm a scout, and you are probably the biggest talent I've ever seen."

Ash then smiled. "I won't disappoint you."

"I'm sure you won't." he then opened his drawer once again. "Before you leave." The businessman said, throwing a mud brown disk to Ash, who caught it easily. "Giovanni sends his regards."

Ash eyed the disk, and then nodded, storing it in his bag. "Tell him I said 'thank you'."

* * *

Ash groaned in the laptop he bought as he saw the questionnaire at the Pokémon League website. He thought that this would be a quick affair, just update his data and fill a short questionnaire, boy he was wrong.

First he had to update the information he filled back at Cerulean City:

* * *

_**NAME**__: ASH KETCHUM_

_**AGE**__: 14_

_**HOMETOWN**__: VERMILION CITY_

_**OCCUPATION**__: TRAINER_

_**BADGES/RIBBONS**__: TWO (CASCADE BADGE, BOULDER BADGE)_

_**RELATIONSHIP**__**STATUS**__: SINGLE_

_**CURRENT**__**LINEUP**__: PIKACHU, WARTORTLE, PERSIAN, BULBASAUR, CHARMELEON, PIDGEOTTO._

_**STORED**__**POKÉMON**__: FEAROW_

_**RELATIVES**__: NONE_

Then he had to fill in an extensive questionnaire provided by Passerby Analytics HQ. He sighed, but still went to work, occasionally frowning at some questions.

_**What's your starter Pokémon?**__ Pichu_

_**What is your hobby?**__ (X) Exercising () Reading () Music () Movies () Traveling () Cooking () Fishing () Video Games_

_**Which do you prefer, battles or trades?**__ (X)Battles ()Trades _

_**What is your favorite kind of Pokémon? **__ (X)Cool () Cute () Strange_

_**What is your favorite Pokémon type?**__ (X)Electric_

_**Where do you prefer to live?**__ (X)City () Country_

_**Which one do you wish you had more of?**__ (X)Money () Time_

_**What's most important to you?**_ The trainer frowned at the question answers: Family, friends or self. He had no family, but what about his pokémon? They would be considered family?

"_Fuck this." _Ash thought before marking **family**. _"If they aren't my family what else they would be?"_

_**Which partner would you choose?**_ The trainer once again frowned at this one. _"Never thought if I liked a Smart or an Athletic girl….but they say opposites attract so:" (X) Smart () Athletic_

_**What do you value more in a person?**__ (X) Appearance () Substance_

_**What type of person do you like?**__ (X)Kind () Fun () Cool () Rich _

_**What type of person do you like? **__(X) Autumn () Spring () Summer () Winter _

_**What is your favorite food?**__ (X)_ _Sweet () Spicy () Sour () Bitter _

_**What is your favorite color?**__ (X)Red () Green () Blue () Yellow () White () Black _

_**In the future, would you like to be? **__(X) Cool () Wise () Funny () Mysterious _

_**Are you a dreamer or a realist?**__ (X)Realist () Dreamer_

_**What do you want to work hard at?**__ (X) Career () Friendships () Hobbies () Health () Popularity_

_**What is your favorite music?**__ (X)Rap () Pop () Rock () Jazz () Classical_

_**What is your favorite kind of TV program?**__ (X)Sports () News () Drama () Comedy () Cartoons _

_**What is your favorite kind of movie? **__(X) Action () Sci-Fi () Romance () Suspense () Comedy ( ) Horror_

_**Where would you go with a time machine? **__(X) The Past () The Future () Nowhere_

_**What would you do with magic?**__ (X)Stop Time () Fly () Be Invisible () Read Minds _

_**What would you do with lots of money?**__ (X)Save It () Spend It () Brag () Donate It_

_**Where would you like to go for fun?**__ (X)The Mountains () The Beach () A River _

_**How do you play with your friends?**__ (X) Cooperate () Compete_

_**What do you do on holidays?**__ (X)Sleeping Late () Play Outside () Shopping () Reading () Video Games _

_**What is your favorite sport?**__ (X) Basketball () Baseball () Soccer () Football () Hockey () Martial Arts _

_**What kinds of games do you like?**__ (X) Sports () Action () Puzzle () RPG () Adventure () Simulation_

_**Who is your favorite Gym Leader?**__ Lt. Surge_

* * *

"_Thanks god this one was the last one." _The trainer thought. _"Now just pack the bags and head to Pallet Town."_

* * *

After some minutes Ash and Brock found themselves at the city entrance, alongside Scott.

"You did as I told." The businessman said to the trainer, referring to the updated info.

"I did, but I still feel like it's wrong, my appearance has nothing to do with pokémon battle. Most of my followers are teenage girls who think I'm hot."

"Disney has been doing this for years and nobody complained."

Ash opened his mouth before changing his mind, Scott was right. He instead extended his hand. "Thanks for everything Scott, I'll keep in touch."

Scott then returned the handshake. "I can give you a lift."

Before Brock could even open his mouth Ash had already beaten him to it.

"It won't be necessary, thanks." He said, before turning to the Route 1 and dragging Brock alongside him.

After they were in a secure distance from Scott, Brock turned to Ash. "Hey, what was that about? If we accepted we would've been in Pallet by the noon."

"Let's just say that, when Scott drives, life becomes a GTA game."

* * *

"You're brooding." Brock stated after they were in a few hours into the Route One.

"I'm not."

Brock sighed. "Don't lie to me. There's something in your mind."

It was Ash's time to sigh. "Don't worry, it's nothing big anyways."

"Tell me about it."

"It's nothing…"

"Ash, can I speak with you as a friend?"

The trainer's eyebrows rose. "Of course you can."

"Ash, we've been travelling together for about a month, and I know you try to keep things private. You like to take things onto your own, to think things onto your own. And I can understand that, but as someone who considers you as a friend, a best friend I must say this is unhealthy for you." The former gym leader said in a stern tone.

"…" Ash kept silent for a few minutes, before turning to Brock. "You're right. I tend to do that often. I think growing up alone and having to take care of myself from an early age probably caused me to be like that." He admitted.

Ash kept walking, trying to further develop his speech. "Still, I must now reckon that this is water under the bridge now. I'll try to talk when I can."

Brock nodded, with an approving look. "It takes a lot of maturity to admit something like this openly. I'm all ears, provided you want to talk." He said, whilst patting Ash's shoulder.

Ash drew in a deep breath. "It's just how insane things went in Viridian. I was arrogant enough to challenge arguably the strongest gym leader in the region and my pokémon paid the price for it. Most of all I was powerless to then getting crushed. After that defeat then Scott came with those graphs and numbers."

Ash paused, his voice becoming almost a whisper. "I saw those numbers, if I had that kind of money… I could've paid for the experimental treatment for my mother, maybe she would be alive. When we first meet I told you that money is happiness, and now I have a clear path to earning this money. But I feel so undeserving, I did nothing spectacular and yet people help me with my journey and say they expect bigger things for me. But what if I'm not enough? What if I'm a fluke?"

"Well, I guess this was to be expected." Brock said. "Big expectations usually tend to increase the pressure you put on yourself for good results. But I'm afraid you are being one-sided in this point."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, clearly curious.

"Well, remember you and your pokémon are a team. I won't deny that there's a lot of pressure put on you, and you obviously will start questioning yourself at times. But you must remember your pokémon are also part of the equation, they, like you, also have unmet expectations and insecurities. The best advice I can give to you is to work alongside them, rather than just mop around thinking this was your fault entirely."

Ash was silent for a few seconds, the meaning of Brock's words sinking into his mind. "You're right, thanks Brock." He said whilst bowing.

"No need for that, we're friends, I know you would do the same for me." The former leader assured. "Now go train alongside your pokémon, I'll set camp."

Surprised by his friend's unselfishness Ash smiled. "Thanks, friend, I really can't express how much this means to me."

Brock, in return, just smiled, glad he was able to help his friend out of his slump.

* * *

Ash found a clearing outside of the main route, where he was sure he wasn't going to be bothered by any prying trainers, before he took out all of his pokémon, as Pikachu leapt out of his shoulder, standing in line, alongside Persian, Wartortle, Pidgeotto, Charmeleon and Bulbasaur.

Ash then cleared his throat. "As you know I'm not good with speeches, so I'll try to be as direct as possible. First of all, I'm sorry, not only about challenging Giovanni, but for ignoring you guys afterwards. I spoke with Brock a few minutes ago and he made me realize how individualistic I was being. As I said before, I consider myself to be the responsible for this loss, and whilst I was so deeply consumed by this I never took time to speak with you directly, not even considering that each of you was probably feeling the same thing I did. So, for trying to selfishly trying to solve things my own way instead of working alongside you, I once again apologize." The trainer said, earning approving nods and cries from his team.

Ash smiled briefly, before adopting a grim expression. "Now I'm afraid I have to talk about the huge ass elephant in the room." He once again straightened his back and cleared his throat. "As I previously said I honestly consider losing to Giovanni as my fault. But, since I promised honesty to all of you, I must say that, at this point, none of you was actually capable of defeating Giovanni's Rhydon, even if you were trained by one of the Elite Four. I'm not saying this to hurt you or put you on the same level as I am, after all a good trainer would've recognized the mismatch beforehand and would've refrained from issuing the challenge at first place."

"The point I'm trying to make here is that despite all the work you put in, and you guys worked a lot, all of our experience combined wouldn't match Rhydon's or Giovanni's alone. So what can we do? We work on our strengths whilst covering our weaknesses. Despite the final result, there are things to take out from our defeat. Remember that our final goal is the Pokémon league, and that the pokémon we'll face there have bested Giovanni. This was a shock of reality. And thus we'll have to rebuild from this defeat and move forwards." Ash continued, before glancing at each of his pokémon.

"I'll give you each my honest evaluations, and if you agree we'll start with some specialized training for each of you. Should you disagree, and you're welcome to do that I'll allow you to dictate your own training, with no hard feelings."

"Let's go from the left to the right, first is Pikachu." Ash then glanced at his shiny rodent. "It'll be unfair to judge you based entirely in a battle against ground types who have a big advantage over you, but some things became clearer. First is, despite how much bulk you put in, you'll always have subpar stats in the defense department. I'm not saying to ignore defense entirely, but my point is to rather than blocking or parrying a blow, you should personally think of evading and counterattacking. You speed, alongside your offensive moveset also fit in this strategy." Pikachu gave a salute and cry, signaling he agreed with Ash. "For your training I think we should put an even bigger emphasis on speed whilst slowly and organically building bulk. Despite most of people using Pikachu as a plain Special Attacker, your Attack statuses are also impressive, and should give the opponent a nasty surprise when fighting you. Hopefully we will also be able to pick up a few more offensive moves rather in the process, right now you can only use Normal and Electric type attacks, should you pick a third type you'll have all the tools needed to wreak havoc at the opponent's defenses."

Ash then turned to Persian, the next in line. "Persian, you are similar to Pikachu in some aspects. The main difference between the two of you is that whilst Pikachu can use both physical and special attacks well, your moveset limits you to being a lone physical brawler. However you have a thing Pikachu doesn't, an offensive move that is super-effective against pokémon immune to your type. Still, your greatest strengths lie within your attack and speed, so you will always have a place on the team, although your usage can somewhat decrease as you can't matchup well with Fighting types and still can't hurt more resilient types such as Rock and Steel." Persian grunted in acknowledgement, staring intently at Ash. "We'll be running speed drills and focusing on critical hits.

Next up was Wartortle. "Wartortle, I'd risk saying that you were the one who came closest to defeating Rhydon, I won't deny that the four times super effective played a big role in that but still it's impressive." Wartortle happily cheered, extending his paw in the air. "We'll be doing the same thing Pikachu, Persian and Charmeleon did a while back, circuit training, to help you to get accustomed to your body build."

"Pidgeotto, I think that my lack of attention was the deciding factor on your battle, so the final result wasn't that accurate. You are the fastest pokémon I have, now we need to develop your offensive game, mostly like Pikachu you can be both a physical and special attacker, so we'll keep experimenting until we find something which works consistently."

"Charmeleon, I won't beat around the bush." Ash stated, causing the fire type to worry. "At the moment, you're my strongest pokémon." He said, causing the pokémon to let out a sigh of relief. "I'll be using a TM to teach you a move, so you'll have bigger coverage, Wartortle too will learn after he's done with his training. However after this I'll need you to work on your overall bulk, when Giovanni took out your claws during the match we were completely helpless." The Vermilion City explained, then tuning to his last pokémon.

"Finally, Bulbasaur, you fight differently than most of my pokémon, using hazardous damage instead of my usual speed centered approach. This however doesn't make you stronger or weaker than them, I dare say you're the pokémon who makes me learn the most as you are unique on your own way. To your training I'll focus on your stats as a way to surprise your opponents."

After giving each of his pokémon instructions regarding their training, Ash called Charmeleon.

"I'll be using a TM Flint gave me, it's a Rock move called Rock Slide, it's a high base power move, with the additional effect of causing the target to flinch sometimes too. Whilst a great move it has a severe drawback, the lack of accuracy, then my suggestion is to keep it hidden on your sleeve until an opportunity to properly use it arises."

Charmeleon nodded in understanding, listening intently to Ash's words.

"I'll set up the machine." Ash said, drawing a CD drive from his bag and a case. "I never used this thing before." Ash muttered, before setting the CD and attaching it to his laptop.

The CD immediately played, showing several usages of the move, and instructions. After a few minutes, Ash turned to Charmeleon. "You think you can do this?"

The lizard pokémon nodded, taking a step forward and focusing energy, becoming enveloped in a white glow, before materializing rocks out of the ground. He the lifted his arms and quickly gestured for the rocks to be flung forwards in arched trajectory.

"Well, that was surprisingly good, it looks like you got it at the first try." Ash praised patting, Charmeleon's head.

The trainer then looked around. "I thought would take longer." He admitted, before looking at the hardworking fire type. "You know what? Let's make a deal: teach Wartortle how to use Rock Slide too and I'll help you with a new move." Charmeleon cried in approval, setting off to find Wartortle.

After a few hours, Charmeleon and Wartortle approached Ash, who was overseeing the training of the other pokémon.

"You guys got it?" Ash asked

Both Charmeleon and Wartortle stepped up, glowing white and creating energy rings around their bodies, from the rings rocks were created and hurled forward.

"Impressive." Ash noted, before turning to Wartortle. "Yours isn't still complete, the rocks lose power and speed, keep practicing, but good work nonetheless." He praised.

The trainer then turned to the fire lizard. "I believe I promised to help you with an attack, follow me."

The duo walked to a more secluded area, with Ash addressing Charmeleon. "I was thinking back at your fight against Rhydon, as your remember at the beginning you managed to last longer using your claws, and you only got defeated because Rhydon forced your guard open with Hammer Arm and used Horn Attack." The trainer explained. "I was thinking that maybe if we relied on a physical move that didn't relied on your claws we would've had better results."

"I was watching the other pokémon practice and I thought that maybe you can learn Bite, like Wartortle and Persian. Want to give it a try?"

The pokémon nodded. "First dash forward, then the hard part: time the closing of your jaw to maximize damage. I want you to use it on a tree."

Charmeleon rushed forward, opening his jaw and biting the tree, however his fangs could only cause a dent on the bark.

"You missed your timing." Ash explained. "Try again."

It took Charmeleon several more attempts to finally manage to time the attack perfectly, until he did.

"_This is going to be good." _Ash thought as he saw the fire type close in, only to be surprised by the damage, there was a dent, bigger that the first but still weak.

Charmeleon looked at his trainer in confusion.

"Maybe you don't have a good synergy with Dark type moves?" he suggested, causing the pokémon to groan in annoyance.

"_Synergy…that's it."_

"Charmeleon, use bite again, but go slower this time." Ash commanded

The pokémon looked unsure for a moment, before deciding to trust his trainer. He slowly dashed forward, opening his jaws in a diminished speed.

"Now use Ember."

The pokémon looked confused but relented, preparing the attack, the embers then igniting the lizard's fangs.

"That's it Fire Fang!"

The moment Charmeleon closed his jaw the tree exploded, splattering his parts through the field.

Ash quickly got near Charmeleon, extending his hand in a high-five gesture.

Charmeleon quickly understood Ash's intentions and high-fived his trainer.

"Maybe you don't have the Dark synergy, but you're a true fire type."

* * *

"That's it, we're here: Pallet Town." Ash announced as the duo, plus Pikachu, who faithfully rode on his shoulder reached his hometown.

"That's it?" Brock asked blankly.

"Yup, it's small right?" Ash asked

Actually small would even be an overstatement to describe Pallet Town, whilst one of the most famous cities in Kanto due to the big names whom lived in the city, the town itself was almost still a village. Just several spaced houses put up on a green field, with plenty of trees and some small dirt roads, asphalt hadn't even made its way there. The main economic activity of the town was subsistence farming and the total population couldn't get past the two thousand mark.

Ash took out his cellphone, looking at the clock, marking 18:30.

"I'll call Professor Oak, see if he can talk with us today, if not we will probably have to camp, there's not a Pokémon Center here." Ash explained, before ringing to the professor.

"Hello, may I speak with Professor Oak?"

…

"Professor Oak, it's Ash Ketchum, I don't know if you remember me. You texted me some time ago saying you needed to talk with me. I'm in Pallet Town right now; if you want I can visit your laboratory."

…

"Great, see you soon."

Ash turned to Brock. "Let's go."

"You know where it is?"

Ash then pointed to a windmill, placed into the roof of a large building with pink roof atop a hill.

* * *

Ash knocked on the door of the lab, Brock at his side.

"Come in." a voice said from inside.

The trainer then opened the door, revealing the interior of the two floor laboratory. Inside the entrance door is a hallway with several doors, and to the left is a chest of drawers and the stairway to the second floor.

The living room, where Professor Oak called from, was one of the rooms in the hallway. On a pink carpet are two couches and a table. To the side are a computer and bookshelves. Ash noticed two occupants into the room the first, although older than he last remembered, was Professor Oak itself, same spiky white hair, white lab coat and brown pants. The other was almost a carbon copy of Oak although he had more tanned skin, dressed like a surfer and had a long hair.

"Ah…Ash, it has been too long." Professor Oak said, giving Ash a handshake.

The trainer gave a polite nod, shaking the researcher's hand. "It sure has been, professor, I'm glad to see you again."

"This is my cousin Samson Oak." The professor explained as the tanned man greeted them.

Ash once again nodded, before pointing to Brock. "This is Brock Harrison, former gym leader of Pewter City."

After the greetings were exchanged, the Pallet Professor motioned to the couch. "Sit down, we have lots to talk about."

* * *

"So, what you are saying is that in Alola Persian is actually a Dark Type pokémon?" Ash asked clearly intrigued.

The group was talking about their occupations when Samson told them about Alola and their regional variants, giving Persian as an example.

"Yes, besides that he even learns different moves and has different abilities." The Alolan professor spoke

"I knew that there were some differences between pokémon here and on Alola, I even saw a picture of an Alolan Raichu before but being honest I always thought the differences were merely aesthetical." Ash admitted

"I can't say I'm surprised, Alola is an isolated place after all, and the government always wanted to keep Alolan things Alolan, thus there's not much information available to the outside." Samson explained

"Me and Samson had been keeping on touch and we agreed on publishing some joint research in order to increase pokémon knowledge, hence why he's here." Sam Oak explained.

"You have any Alolan form Pokémon with you?" Brock asked. "My goal is to become a breeder, so I'm clearly interested on those variants."

"Of course I do." Samson said enthusiastically, calling up three pokémon.

The first was a very similar to Ash's Persian although his fur was a bluish gray instead of the cream colored Kanto variant. His face was also different, being more flattened and spherical, the whiskers were curved instead of straight, his eyes were slightly closed and finally a blue jewel took place of the red one in the Alolan variant's forehead.

The second one was also very familiar to Ash, as he trained alongside Surge and his trusty Raichu for four years. As opposed to the Kantonian Raichu orange fur with white belly scheme, the Alolan Raichu donned a brownish fur with creamy yellow belly. The Alolan form's rounded and thick ears alongside his bluish eyes with yellow pupils gave the pokémon a 'cute' look. Finally the biggest difference was the tail, as opposed to the Kantonian thunderbolt pattern, was rounded and used as a surfboard of sorts to the Alolan Raichu.

The final pokémon was one both Ash and Brock were familiar during their journeys. His form greatly resembled a Kanto Graveler, although the rock body's was slightly darker. What stood out however were dark eyebrows and marks on the cheeks, apparently made of iron and the yellow crystals scattered around the Alolan pokémon's body.

"Meet Persian, Raichu and Graveler."

Ash, glanced at Brock, who nodded as the two of them called forth their pokémon: Persian and Geodude. Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder, joining the duo in standing in front of their counterparts.

"Well, that's a surskiting reunion." Samson said, whilst mimicking a Surskit, causing Ash and Brock to sweatdrop and Sam Oak to shrink in embarrassment for his relative.

"Please ignore his puns." Sam said, after recovering himself.

Ash them noted Raichu and Graveler differences, addressing Samson.

"You said that in Alola Persian in a Dark type, does this mean that Raichu and Graveler also gain type differences?"

Samson glanced at Ash. "There's one way you can find out for sure."

The trainer quickly understood the meaning of the Professor's words, and looked at the Alolan lineup. "Best-of-three?"

"Best-of-three it is." The Alolan professor said, turning to his cousin.

"You can use the corral."

* * *

"This will be a best-of-three match between Professor Samson Oak from Alola and Ash Ketchum from Kanto. Trainers, send out your first pokémon." Brock, who was acting as referee announced

"Go, Persian!" Both trainers said at the same time, as the pokéball, opened revealing the two different forms of the same pokémon.

"Well, it seems we have a similar line of thought." Samson commented

"Yeah, great minds think alike." The Vermilion trainer said jokingly.

"Battle one of the match, Persian versus Persian, begin." Brock commanded.

"Persian, use Pay Day." Ash commanded.

The Kanto pokémon then shot out several coins from the red gem in his forehead towards his Alolan variant.

"Persian, counter with Fake Out." Professor Samson commanded

The Alolan form then quickly leapt forward, towards the barrage of coins, before clapping his paws, creating a vacuum wave that send the coins backwards, besides hitting the opposing Persian. Ash's Persian grunted in pain before quickly getting up.

"Persian, don't give up, use Feint."

The Kantonian variant quickly moved in a zigzag pattern, getting onto the opponent's guard quickly, and preparing a strike at his forehead.

"Quickly evade." Samson commanded, causing Ash to grin.

"Now feint and attack his legs." Ash commanded

The normal type, instead of attempting a strike at his dark's counterpart let the target seemingly leap off, before delivering a blow at his legs, causing the opponent to be thrown off and land on the ground.

"Quickly pin him to the ground." Ash said, taking Charmeleon's battle against Giovanni's Rhydon as an inspiration.

The normal Persian quickly leapt towards where the dark type landed, landing on its limbs, effectively pinning his counterpart to the ground.

"Now use Pay Day from point blank range." Ash commanded.

"Persian, recompose."

The Dark type variant attempted to fend off the normal type, but to no avail, being hit from point blank range by a barrage of coins.

"Great job Persian, one more."

"No you don't." Samson yelled. "Persian, use Power Gem."

As soon as Ash's Persian unleashed another flurry of coins, the jewel on Alolan Persian's forehead glowed white and it fired a light-blue beam of energy with a bright white energy around it from the jewel at the opponent's attack. The sheer power of the dark type's attack, plus the type advantage quickly dispelled the normal type's Pay Day and connected with his torso, sending the pokémon pummeling backwards.

"Persian!" Ash yelled in concern for his pokémon, who slowly got up, although severely battered.

"_He has the advantage from the long and medium range, but I can't get in close without risking losing the battle, not directly at least."_ Ash though, before creating a strategy on the fly.

"Persian, use Pay Day." He commanded, before whispering his next command so Samson wouldn't hear. "When he dispels the attack, use the explosion's smoke to close in."

The pokémon nodded, firing another barrage of coins towards his regional variant.

"It's no use, send back with Power Gem." Samson called out.

As soon as the attacks collided, Ash yelled his commanded. "NOW!"

The smoke and the barrage of coins obstructed the Alolan pokémon's view from his opponent whilst the ringing sound of the coins falling masked the normal type's noise, giving him the best opening possible.

"Now, use Fury Swipes." Ash commanded as the cat pokémon leapt from above, surprising Samson and his pokémon.

"No! Fall back, Persian." Samson commanded.

Although the Alolan Persian attempted to follow his trainer's commands, Ash's pokémon was quicker, soon landing his first strike with his claws.

"More." Ash yelled

His pokémon quickly followed his orders, landing the second third and fourth strikes in succession, although he overextended the fifth, giving Samson and Persian the opening they needed.

"He's open, use Slash."

The dark type's claws then glowed and extended, before slashing at Persian's torso, sending him back to the ground.

Ash's Persian then couldn't get up, with swirls in his eyes and groaning in pain. As Brock was about to call the battle in Samson's favor, the Alolan Persian also fell to the ground, also spotting swirls in his eyes.

"Both pokémon are unable to battle, thus battle one of this best-of-three match ends in a draw." Brock called out.

Both trainers called back their pokémon, before Samson turned to Ash. "How could your Persian cause so much damage in point of causing my Persian to faint?" he asked, clearly intrigued.

"Persian's ability, Technician, it causes weaker moves to get stronger by a large margin." Ash explained

Samson nodded. "Clever use of a strategy to even the ground, I sub estimated you, Ash Ketchum, this won't happen again." He then drew his second pokéball, revealing his Alolan Raichu.

"Raichu? Then there's no other pokémon I'd count on but Pikachu."

Pikachu then leapt from Ash's shoulder, facing his Alolan evolution, which was floating in his tail-board.

"Battle two of the match, Raichu versus Pikachu, start." Brock commanded

"Pikachu, think of this as a preview of what we will have thrown at us when we challenge Lt. Surge." Ash said, causing the rodent to nod.

"Get things started with a Quick Attack." Ash commanded.

Ash's starter pokémon then quickly approached his counterpart, using his momentum to empower its tackle.

"Raichu, use Electric Terrain." Samson said with a grin.

The evolved pokémon quickly released a dome of electrical energy, which surrounded the entire field.

"_Electric Terrain, causes electric type attacks to get stronger and prevents pokémon from falling asleep. But why would he do it? Pikachu's electrical attacks will also get powered by this." _Ash analyzed, whilst debating what led his opponent to was a move that wouldn't change nothing.

Ash's answer came when, in a burst of speed Raichu got away from his pre-evolution attack, surfing through the field using his tail.

"_Shit, that was extremely fast."_

"Let me explain to you, Raichu's ability is called Surge Surfer. It doubles the pokémon's speed when Electric Terrain is active." Samson explained

That put Ash and Pikachu in a very though spot, Ash would usually use his rodent's speed to overcome larger and bulkier pokémon, but now he was also eclipsed on this side.

"Pikachu, if his speed is doubled, every decrease of is also doubled, let's hit him with Electroweb."

Pikachu then nodded, firing his attack. However Raichu was fast enough to evade and quickly surfed away from the attack.

Ash frowned again, quickly redesigning his strategy. "Pikachu, use Quick attack to increase your speed, then fire Electroweb once again, this time predict where he will be instead."

Pikachu quickly rushed using his increased momentum to fire another Electroweb at Raichu, this time where he was supposed to be instead of where he was. The attack at first glance seemed to be on its way of connecting, but in the last minute, the evolved Alolan pokémon's eyes glowed blue for a moment, as the surfer quickly changed his trajectory.

"He foresaw our attack?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Now, it's time to get on the offensive." Samson said. "Raichu, use Psychic."

"_Psychic, what the fuck?" Ash though flabbergasted _

The evolved pokémon quickly fired a pink beam from his eyes towards Pikachu, who couldn't move in time, being hit by the attack.

"Abilities aren't the only things that change with some Alolan variants, Raichu for instance also gets a second type: Psychic." Samson explained

Ash sighed, once again he had his back against the wall, Raichu seemed unbeatable. Seeing Pikachu get up, he quickly remembered his talk with his team at Route 1, they were doing this as a team, not as one.

"Pikachu, let's play safe for now, we will be focusing on evasion rather than attack." Ash explained. "Use Double Team."

"No you don't." Samson replied. "Raichu, Fake Out."

As soon as Pikachu created his afterimages, his evolved Alolan counterpart clapped his hands together, creating a vacuum wave, which slightly threw the rodent backwards whilst dispelling his Double Team.

"Pikachu, don't give up, I trust you." Ash called from the sidelines as his pokémon groaned from the pain.

"Raichu, let's send this one home, use Psychic."

The dual type pokémon's eyes shone a light blue, before firing quickly firing an extremely fast Psychic attack at Pikachu.

"Use Quick Attack to get out." Ash commanded but to no avail, Pikachu was fast, but Raichu was faster, and the attack quickly caught up with the rodent.

Pikachu however wasn't one to give up easily and, although in pain form the strikes, he got up.

"Pikachu, next time we need to be even faster."

"There will be not next time." The Alolan professor said, a bit smugly. "Raichu, finish him with Psychic."

Once again Raichu fired the pinkish beam towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, this time instead of dodging it, run towards it and use Quick Attack to dodge, be as faster as you can otherwise we'll lose." Ash explained

Pikachu once again dashed forward, heading towards the beam, but this time he felt faster. To the outside watchers, Pikachu simply vanished a second before colliding with the beam, then appearing outside of the attack's trajectory the next second.

"Impossible." Samson exclaimed.

"That was Agility." Ash noted, before grinning. "Pikachu, he's wide open use Slam."

The rodent, who was thirsty for revenge, quickly slammed his tail with full force at his evolution's belly, sending Raichu crashing backwards.

"Great job Pikachu." Ash praised. "Now we can fight on equal ground."

"Raichu, surf around and try to find an opening."

Raichu then went back into surfing through the Electric Terrain with great speed, attempting to find a way to corner Pikachu.

"Pikachu, run against him using Agility."

Pikachu dashed, using his newfound Agility move to increase his own speed, running in the opposite direction his evolution was. Ash had to keep his eyes trained to see through the blurs, Raichu was slightly faster, although Pikachu's speed wasn't anything to laugh at.

The electric types were seemingly on a stalemate, Raichu was faster but not enough to completely outspeed Pikachu, whilst Pikachu was already heavily tired from receiving attacks and had to keep powering his Agility to not be left behind.

"Raichu, use Psychic, full power."

Ash then noted the electric terrain and recalled how much damage Raichu suffered from Pikachu's Slam. _"In order to maintain such Speed and firepower, Raichu probably had to neglect his defenses, then we need to use the terrain to our advantage." _Ash though.

"Pikachu, this battle is nearing its end, and we will come out on top." He said confidently. "Use Agility rushing towards the Psychic attack. Then use Volt Tackle to overpower it."

Pikachu then used his speed to run towards the Psychic attack that was being fired by Raichu, as he neared closer and closer, his body then becoming surrounded by electricity and becoming black and white by the surge of power. The Volt Tackle collided with the Psychic attack, then, being powered by the Electric Terrain, overpowered the attack and collided with Raichu, sending the evolved Alolan Pokémon crashing backwards once again.

"RAICHU!" Samson yelled in concern.

Ash kept silent but was far from being calm, he knew how nasty Volt Tackle recoil damage was.

Raichu got up, heavily bruised and panting hardly, whilst Pikachu got enveloped by sparks and groaned in pain, falling to the ground with swirls in his eyes.

Brock looked at Raichu, who managed to get up, although with some difficult, before calling the match. "Pikachu is unable to battle, winner is Raichu."

Ash recalled his pokémon with a smile on his face, although he lost, Pikachu learned a new move and held his ground against his evolution.

"I can't win anymore, but at least I can draw." Ash said, calling forth his final pokémon. "Go, Bulbasaur!"

"We won't allow that. Go, Graveler!"

"Final battle of the match: Bulbasaur vs. Graveler, start."

"Bulbasaur, use Stun Spore." Ash commanded, causing Samson to smirk.

"Get in close." He commanded to Graveler, who got in front of Bulbasaur, taking the spore attack, which caused several sparks to surround him.

"Now, Bulbasaur, use…" Ash said only to be cut by Samson.

"Graveler, Thunder Punch."

Much to Ash's and Bulbasaur surprise the rock type shrugged off the paralysis as if was nothing proceeding to hit Bulbasaur hard with a Thunder Punch.

"What the fuck?" Ash asked clearly confused by the turn of events, Bulbasaur, who slowly got up also was wondering the same thing in pokéspeech.

"Alolan Geodude's evolutionary family gets Electric type as secondary type as opposed to the Kanto variant who gets Ground." Samson explained.

"_Just my luck."_ Ash thought in annoyance.

"Bulbasaur, are you ok?" Ash asked only to see sparks surrounding his pokémon. _"Paralysis, my day keeps getting better."_

Although the dual type starter made an effort, the paralysis got the better of him, severely slowing him down.

"Let's keep on rolling, Graveler, use Take Down."

Graveler quickly rushed, taking advantage of Bulbasaur's lack of speed, before slamming at the Grass/Poison type with great force, emitting even more sparks.

"Also I forgot to mention, Graveler's ability: Galvanize, causes all normal type attacks to become electric type and adds a small amount of power to them." Samson announced, causing Ash to groan.

"That was probably the coolest ability I've ever heard about." He admitted. "It's a real shame it's being used against me."

"Bulbasaur, we can still win this, the type advantage is still ours, let's build up and create a clear chance. Use Razor Leaf."

Several leaves made their way out of Ash's pokémon bulb, flying towards Graveler.

"Quickly evade this." Samson commanded.

"Don't let him escape, use Vine Whip to catch him." Ash replied

Graveler leapt out of the way of the first attack, but somehow was caught by Bulbasaur's vines midair. However his weight made almost impossible for Bulbasaur to pull or throw him around, something Samson was eager to capitalize.

"Graveler, use his vines to pull him towards you and finish him with Thunder Punch."

Ash reacted quickly, seeing his plan backfire. "Bulbasaur let him take you."

Whilst other pokémon might have questioned his trainer's orders, Bulbasaur trusted Ash utterly and did as asked, being pulled towards a sure fire Thunder Punch.

"Now use Leech Seed, let's get our HP back."

Understanding Ash's commands, the dual type dinosaur unleashed a single seed at high speed towards Graveler. As the seed hit its target it instantly created vines which warped around the evolved pokémon's body, restraining him, causing his Thunder Punch to cancel.

As an added effect of the attack, some of the energy drained from Graveler materialized and went back into Bulbasaur's bulb, slightly healing the grass type.

"_Now all we need to do is stall and let Leech Seed do its work."_ The Vermilion trainer thought

"Graveler, don't give up, use Take Down."

The Rock/Electric type then charged viciously towards Bulbasaur, building up speed and getting covered in sparks, courtesy of his ability, Galvanize.

"Bulbasaur, use your Vines to leap out of the way."

Ash's pokémon attempted to do so, in the most inopportune time, the paralysis effect made itself known, causing the starter to come into a halt and to be hit by a full powered attack from Graveler.

"Bulbasaur!" Ash yelled

If it weren't for the new supply of energy, coming from the Leech Seed, Bulbasaur was probably going to stay down. But albeit painfully and slowly, the Grass/Poison type pokémon managed to get up.

"Bulbasaur, can you move?"

The pokémon shook his head in negation, causing Ash to frown.

"You want to forfeit, you know I won't blame you."

The pokémon once again shook his head, he was going to fight until the end.

"If that's it, then I'll gladly fight besides you." Ash told reassuringly. "If we can't move the only way is to attack from where we are, use Razor Leaf."

The dual type then let leaves out of his bulb, before powering at launching them towards Graveler, who also was hurt, courtesy of Leech Seed and the recoil damage from Take Down.

"There are too many to dodge." Samson called. "Use Defense Curl."

The dual type evolved pokémon curled into a ball, shielding his eyes and limbs from the attack, whilst focusing energy on his body to increase defense and decrease damage. The attack connected, causing the pokémon to grunt in pain, but resist nonetheless.

"Ash, Bulbasaur, you two put up a good fight, but it's over." Samson announced. "Graveler, use Rock Slide."

As the barrage of rocks came flying towards a paralyzed Bulbasaur, Ash knew it was over. Bulbasaur however wasn't aware of that. In last effort he drew all the energy he could in his bulb, taking advantage of his paralysis, before firing a powerful beam towards the rocks and Graveler.

The beam easily crashed the rocks apart, before connecting a clear strike at Graveler.

"This…" Ash said, still dumbfounded.

"Solar Beam." Samson completed, clearly incredulously

Graveler went down, and continued down, causing Brock to call the match. "Graveler is unable to battle, winner is Bulbasaur. This best of three match ends in a draw."

Suddenly several claps where heard and the battlers turned to see a big crowd (in Pallet standards) surrounding the battlefield.

Ash went where Bulbasaur laid, still suffering from the effects of paralysis, he quickly took a Cheri Berry that he obtained in the Viridian Forest and feed it to his pokémon, patting his head.

"I thought it was over, thanks for believing until the end. I promise to have more faith in my team."

Bulbasaur in response just became enveloped in white glow, causing Ash to take a step back.

When the light was faded, Bulbasaur had become Ivysaur. His ears became pointier, he became taller due to the increase in his legs' size, and the most striking difference was the bloomed bulb in his back, spotting four leaves in a cross-like pattern.

"Wow." Was all Ash could muster.

"Bulbasaur was ready to evolve for a long time, he just needed to prove his own strength against a evolved pokémon before." Brock said

"And pokémon that didn't evolved at the spot tend to learn moves faster, such as Solar Beam." Professor Oak added.

"That was a good battle, Ash." Samson said after recalling his Graveler. He offered his hand in a handshake, one Ash gladly returned.

"I must say the same, my pokémon learned a lot from this battle. I learned a lot from this battle."

"I'm glad that's the case. It's always a teacher's duty to help students to improve."

"Samson is a principal of a trainer's school in Alola." Sam Oak explained.

"I see."

The Alolan then turned to Ash once again, looking at Ash with a unreadable expression

"Ash, I usually don't make this kinds of offers, but what about joining me in Alola? You can learn a lot, get paid and help other people with pokémon in the process."

**End of Chapter Eight**

* * *

I usually don't do cliffhangers, but it felt right this time. This chapter was supposed to be out by Tuesday but I kept getting sidetracked, I personally blame the football (soccer if you're American) games this week, the comebacks from Tottenham and Liverpool at the UCL semi-finals were things out of this world.

Sports talk aside, I must say I'm impressed by the size of this chapter, I thought it would be around 4-5K words, but ended with 9K. In earlier chapters of the first version I mentioned I wasn't planning on using Alola a lot, but I recently played Pokémon Moon and I felt like it would be nice to add a scene with Alolan Pokémon. To be honest I'm tempted on giving Samson's Graveler to Ash, but I still haven't decided on that yet.

Another point I'd like to ask is whether should I tag May, Serena and Dawn in this, they haven't made an appearance yet, but they will, so I honestly don't know.

Now, let's head to the reviews.

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**Hardwin Potter: **Glad you liked, please keep reviewing.

**frankieu:** Ash learnt a lot from his defeat, but he won't get better overnight. My favorite scene to write in this chapter is the scene where Brock gives him advice on how to deal with defeat as it highlights how human the characters are. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.

**UnsanMusho: **I'm glad you liked last chapter, I tried to keep the battle realist enough to let the difference between Ash and Giovanni know, but not to the point on making it extremely boring, judging by your review it seems like I succeeded. I'm glad you liked my pairings, usually people tend to lock on one OTP and bash others, good to see my readers keep their minds open. Now regarding Giovanni and Ash… Ash's parentage is a sub-plot I'll develop in this story, Giovanni was shown to have a piece of this puzzle and to have the slightest of the interests in Ash as he recommended him for a license discount and gave him a TM. Whether he is or isn't Ash's parent only time will tell, but he's an important piece.

**NinjaFang1331: **Thanks, glad you liked.

**StallionWolf: **Thanks a lot for the correction; I clearly spaced out writing last chapter. I've already fixed the dialogue.

**Shroomsohshrooms: **I'm glad you liked, hopefully you'll find the next chapters even better.

**Shane: **I'm glad you liked last chapter. Regarding Advanceshipping, I must admit it is also my favorite, this story won't discriminate Amour and Pearlshippings in order to promote advance, but as a reader I always enjoyed Advance stories more. To be honest I'm probably only writing this story because of a story called The Return of the Forgotten, I think it's one of the first Ash betrayed stories on this site, but it's a great work nonetheless.

**SILVERE ESPADACHIN: **Glad I was able to make your Monday better, the reviews I received made my Monday better, so thanks for the review.

**Guest (1): **I don't know why but the Doc Manager wasn't able to properly format the text the way it was originally displayed, I've made some changes so it's fixed now.

**ultimateCCC: **As I said above, the scoreboard is now fixed. Ash will eventually change his clothes, like he did this chapter, but I don't think I'll go overboard with, unless some special circumstances demand.

**Guest (2): **Thanks for the suggestion, I've found some time last week to read it and I must say I wasn't disappointed. Wattpad fics usually are very badly written (this is a generalization, and I don't want to offend anyone by any means), this one wasn't the case, good for a casual read. Now for your questions, May will only appear when Ash journeys through Hoenn, and although this is still an embryonic idea, it may happen sooner than later. I'm considering making a time skip during the Johto saga, so after the last chapter of the Indigo League we'll go straight to Hoenn, and May, making a one year time-skip. Johto will have happened already, and sometimes some flashback will be used to describe Ash's adventures there. Whilst I'm leaning towards listening my reader's opinions, I personally would prefer to do this skip, so the story gets a bit more mysterious and nonlinear. I'll probably make a poll later, but I'm already revealing this so my readers can begin to express their opinions. Regarding your question about Solidad, she's set to make an appearance at Lavender Town, if I things go as I plan, it will probably be in five chapters.

**Reaper: **Whilst some of your arguments make a lot of sense I differ from you on some. Pairing with ten years olds are creepy, I wholeheartedly agree with that, but the way the series pictures the characters, in my opinion they look a lot more than ten years olds, I mean Gary actually drives a sports car. Hence why this work ages the characters, Ash's currently fourteen years old here, I think most of fourteen year olds are aware of relationships, so it's less awkward that way. Regarding Aura, what truly annoys me is the way it is overused and badly used, sometimes they turn Ash into a god just because he can use Aura. I won't lie, there will some Aura stuff on this story, I liked the Lucario movie a lot to not put it into the story, but it won't be as nearly as overpowered as in the other stories. I hope you keep reading the story, your review was very useful to me, and I'd love to hear more.

**Guest (3):** I can't, and I don't intend to please all the people, it seems that the thing that made my work the way it is displease you, I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do about it. As for the personal offenses, do as you like, I'm not fazed by it at all.

**Guest (4)**: Another flame… well as I said above it won't faze me at all, in fact I'm just answering this by protocol.

* * *

Please keep reviewing, this truly means the world to me. Next chapter will probably be up at the second half of the month.


	9. Call of Duty: ROCKET OPS

Yeah, I'm back. I'd like to apologize for the delay on the updates, things got a little harder in life and it took some time to sort it out. This chapter was supposed to be much longer, but I've decided to break it in two so it won't become that rough for readers whilst also providing a much needed update for this story. Also as you'll notice bellow, I started doing quotes before the start of chapters, I saw it in a story I liked so I decided to replicate it. Without any further ado:

* * *

"_Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love." – Julian Assange_

* * *

**Chapter Nine – Call of Duty: ROCKET OPS**

Clearly surprised by the Alolan professor's sudden offer, Ash was actually speechless for a few seconds. Noticing that he drew a lot of attention by the onlookers, the trainer quickly recomposed himself offering Samson an honest smile. "Thanks for the offer, professor, but I really can't answer to that right now, I need some time to think."

The Alolan professor/principal nodded. "I'll be leaving Pallet Town in two days. I expect your answer by then."

The trainer then turned to the Kantonian Oak. "Thanks for letting us use the corral. I hope none of the attacks caused any sort of permanent damage."

Sam waved his hand dismissively. "This field has gone through worse, it's no problem. Still I must say I'm impressed, after Pikachu was beaten I didn't thought you had the willpower and concentration to claim a draw, even more against a much more experienced opponent."

"I believed until the end and worked alongside my pokémon." Ash replied quickly glancing towards Brock; still grateful for the breeder's advice at Route One; who nodded in approval. "Because of their fighting spirit I was able to level the field, so it's fair I did the same for them."

"Spoken like a true professional, I'm sure the fans agree too." The older man added, pointing towards the group of inhabitants which was watching the battle.

The Vermilion City trainer then waved to the crowd, before once again turning to the professor. "Thanks for welcoming us here, Professor; this truly brings back great memories I had from my childhood. I'm afraid I must be off, I still have to set camp."

"No, you don't."

"Sorry?"

"I can't allow you to sleep in a camp when there's plenty of room in my ranch."

"It's no problem, professor, we're used to it." The trainer reassured with a wave of hands, but the researcher wasn't having any of it.

"I insist."

Drained by the day long road to his hometown and the intense battle against Samson, Ash could only nod tiredly.

"Are you going to accept it?" Brock asked as soon as they entered the room that was given by Professor Oak.

The guest room was a rather plain one, with two sing beds, accompanied by two bedside tables and two lamps. A wooden dresser and the set of white curtains completed the furniture set.

"What are your thoughts on the offer?" Ash asked, collapsing with his arms open at one of the beds.

"It's surprising, I guess. But it's an abrupt change of directions should you accept it." Brock reasoned. "A week ago you were setting up social media accounts and talking with an agent. Now you're being offered a rather academical position in a faraway continent." The former gym leader completed lying down in his own bed, although way less dramatically than his friend.

"Yeah, those are two extremely different paths. And to be honest I don't think I even deserve to be considered for any of those. Never considered myself someone who taught well to be a teacher, and the battle against Giovanni showed me that I'm not as good as I thought I was when it came to battling."

"Ash…"

"Relax Brock, I got over it already." Ash replied with a wave of hand. "Still, being realistic I don't consider myself someone worth of Surge's training or Scott's attention for that matter. I'm good, I honestly think I am, but there are even better trainers out there that are more deserving than me."

"I don't think so." Brock argued back. "I've been a gym leader for five years after all. I've battled against all kinds of trainers, good ones and bad ones; with all sort of different styles. But I can guarantee you that no one has… whatever you have. When you battle you just not only bring the best on your pokémon but also the best on yourself. There a raw uniqueness in your style, I think that's why people like Surge and Scott became interested in you."

"Unique, huh?" Ash asked with a smirk. "But answering your question, I'll turn down Samson's offer. It's a great offer in both financial and professional aspects, but I think that I have a big chance of being successful in battles. Besides that, what's the point in getting to know Alola if I haven't even visited half of Kanto?" Ash then got up, looking by the window. "You, Bill, Surge, Leaf, Solidad, and most important of all: my pokémon." Ash said gesturing towards the soundly asleep Pikachu curled up atop the drawer. "Kanto is the home to all of us, and the place I want to be when I become someone important."

As soon as he woke up, Ash glanced at the clock, marking 11 a.m. Since he was very tired both Brock and the professors were already up making their chores or sightseeing. Leaving a bottle of ketchup to Pikachu who was still soundly asleep and handling the rest of his pokéballs to one of Oak's assistants and asking for them to feed, he headed out to find Samson.

He eventually found the before mentioned researcher alongside his cousin at the lab, both were intently discussing the differences between the Kantonian Rattata, the one Ash was familiar, with purple fur and whiskers, and the Alolan Rattata, with black fur, a moustache of sorts and spiky ears and tail. He knocked at the already open door as a way to catch the researcher's attention.

"Ah, Ash. What brings you here?" The Kantonian Oak asked.

"I came to thank you for welcoming us last night." The trainer said politely before glancing at the Alolan Professor. "And to give you my answer, regarding the offer."

"And your answer would be?"

"Albeit honored by the offer, I will need to refuse it. Right now my focus is to succeed in Kanto."

…

…

"I knew it!" Sam Oak exclaimed before turning to Samson. "Now pay it."

His cousin sighed pulling a 10,000 P-Dollars note and handling it over.

"You guys bet on my decision?"

The cousins shrugged over. "Harmless fun." Sam justified.

Ash sighed. "Okay then… I just came here to inform you of my decision and to thank Sam for hosting us anyway. I'll be off then, I need to buy tickets to the ferry to Cinnabar."

"Okay, be sure to come back to inform us." Oak said. "I might have a present for you."

After buying the earliest tickets for tomorrow, Ash walked meaninglessly through the streets of Pallet Town; most of his memories from the place were happy and joyful ones. He remembered vividly waking up with the smell of his mother cooking and then helping her out gardening. Another important memory was his time at Professor Oak's Summer Camp, just a month before his life turned upside down; now that he was on the road he met some of his acquaintances, even friends he made at this time, Gary Oak would always be his first rival, but also a friend in the end, Leaf is still a dear friend who helped him a lot during his travels, there was also the blonde girl… Serena if he remembered correctly… she was probably one of Ash's first crushes ever, he wondered if he would ever see her again…

The trainer came into a halt as he noticed the house in the corner, the place he once called home. The house itself had definitively seen better days, the once vivid red roof was almost brown and the clear white now was dirtied beige. Before all his world crumbled to ashes when his mother discovered her cancer Ash would always dream of returning there, to have his old life back, hanging with Gary, helping his mother, helping Professor Oak, taking Serena to a date… now those were faraway dreams, but still the house meant something to him.

"It's for sale." A voice said from behind

Ash turned to see an elder man, carrying some grocery bags.

The trainer nodded, before addressing the man.

"Need help with those bags?"

"No, I can handle it. But you're interested in buying the house?"

Ash shook his head. "I don't have that kind of money."

The elder man just smiled. "Take this card, it's the real estate agent's phone number." The elder said before walking away.

"_That was very random." _Ash deadpanned, but he still glanced at the house.

"_Still, it would be a pretty picture."_ He concluded pocketing the card.

After meeting up with Brock, and hearing the former leader's complaints about the lack of a Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny, Ash headed to Oak's study to receive the professor's gift.

Oak's study was a small room integrated to the larger library area, the former being about a quarter of the library's size. The room furniture itself consisted of a big bookshelf that covered the entire back wall, a mahogany desk with two wooden chairs, presumably used for meetings and a comfy looking armchair. A big window provided a view of the corral and a source of natural light. He knocked on the door before entering.

"Professor." The trainer acknowledged with a nod

"Ash." Oak replied in kind with a smile. "Were you able to purchase the tickets?"

"Yes, we'll be leaving early tomorrow; the ship is set to depart 7 a.m. if things go well I'll be able to reach Cinnabar by the afternoon."

"Good, you've never been to Cinnabar before right?"

"Nope."

"Well some friend advice… the entire island is a tourist trap, so be wary, people will mostly likely overprice things and will bother you."

"It's a good thing I just want to grab the badge and get out of there."

"You seem like someone who doesn't like to waste time on frivolities, but I'd like to recommend you to visit the Pokémon Lab, some acquaintances of mine work there and can even give you advice for your battle against Blaine, they are nearly completing a revolutionary process that'll be able to bring back fossil Pokémon in accessible prices to the trainers."

"Really?" Ash asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes, bringing fossils back to life isn't something unprecedented, but it is a very costly process and only available to top tier trainers such as Elites Four and maybe some gym leaders. Obviously it'll be still somewhat expensive, and will require a well conserved fossil with plenty of genetic data, but in comparison to what it is right now it's a big leap."

"Professor, you think I'll be able to get something out of this?" Ash asked, digging into his bag for a few moments before revealing his fossil.

"That's an Old Amber!" Oak exclaimed, surprise evident in his eyes. "Where you got that?"

"A scientist in the Pewter Museum gave to me as a gift for helping them with a problem. Brock also got two different fossils."

Oak took the fossil and studied it closely for a few minutes. "I'm not an expert in the study of fossils, but it looks promising. You'll need to show it to the researchers in order to confirm if it's usable, but it does look like it."

Ash proceeded to put the Amber back into his bag, but this time much more cautiously than before.

"Ash." The pokémon professor said, getting the trainer's attention back. "'I'd like to offer my deepest sympathies for your loss."

"It was a long time ago, can't say I'm over it but I moved on."

"Still, Delia was like a daughter to me, I still feel like I should've done more."

Ash sighed. "Until some time ago I kept thinking like that. But now looking back there wasn't that much I could've done to make things different, in fact at that point only winning the lotto."

"I had no idea that Delia was ill, when she left she looked so… healthy."

"Until she collapsed at work I had no idea too. After she died I always kept running those different scenarios in my head, things I should've done differently to keep her alive, but mostly of those scenarios ended up centered around money. Mother was such a gentle, selfless person, I don't think she would've liked that we, or anyone else for that matter kept thinking about money." Ash said so convincingly that he almost believed himself. Delia was as he said, kind, caring, selfless; but deep down inside he knew that he would never be able to be as his mother, still it wasn't fair that Oak at that age kept blaming himself.

The pokémon professor was silent for a few minutes. "The day she found out she was pregnant of you, was probably the best memory I'll ever have of her. She was so happy; I felt that after everything that she had been through with her family she deserved to have someone she would call her own family. In the end you were with her until the end, but it's still painful for me."

"Professor." Ash called out, his facial expression hardening. "Do you know who my father is?"

Oak wordlessly shook his head, before answering. "Delia never told me, all I know is that he's not from Pallet and is probably rich." Seeing Ash's attentive expression, the professor took his clue to continue. "When Delia was younger she dreamed of being a pokémon trainer, like her father, but one day she gave up."

"Why?"

"Delia's parents were from Pallet, her father being a pokémon trainer and her mother a chef. After your grandmother died, your grandfather, Delia's father, became bitter and constantly left Delia alone in order to pursue his own goals. I think that at the beginning Delia thought that if she somehow became a trainer she would be able to get close to her father again, but it never happened, and she ended up being bitter at the entire ordeal."

"My grandfather … you know him? Is he alive?" Ash asked, still with his hardened expression

"I know who he is yes, but Delia herself asked me to never tell you who he is. I don't know whether he's alive or not, last time I heard of him was twenty years ago, even before he had that fall out with Delia."

Ash merely nodded.

"Now, going back to Delia. After she gave up with her dream of being a pokémon trainer she decided to become a model. She spent six years outside of Pallet, attempting to achieve that dream, after she came back, accepting that her dream was impossible; she discovered that she was pregnant with you. I assume you know the rest of the history."

Ash nodded once again. "You said that you believed my dad was rich and not someone from Pallet. Why you think that?"

"Delia discovered her pregnancy merely a month after returning to the town, still you were born seven months later, the midwife who helped delivering you said that you were a healthy boy and showed no signs of being born prematurely."

"Midwife? She didn't go to a hospital?"

"No. Delia claimed that she wanted you to be born in Pallet Town rather than Viridian City."

"I see. And why do you think 'he' was rich?"

"I once saw a silver and gold designer necklace with encrusted crystals in her house. I commented to Daisy about that and she informed that those kinds of necklaces are extremely expensive."

"How expensive?"

"15,000 dollars; nearly 1,600,000 PokéDollars."

"Shit." Ash swore.

"I said exactly the same thing. But, honestly, that's all I can tell."

Ash nodded in acceptance.

"Thanks anyway professor, you could've opted to lie but you answered; that meant a lot for me."

"Ash, as much as I consider Delia as a daughter I also consider you as a grandson. I might get over not having been able to help Delia, but I'll never forgive myself for not helping you."

"Professor, if anything, being alone helped me." Ash said reassuringly. "I'd give everything I have to get my mother back, but it's impossible, so I'll keep maturing and doing things that would make her proud. It was though at first but I learned things earlier than most, I won't lie, I hated it at first, but I've grown used to it. And what doesn't kill me makes me stronger." Ash said with a smirk.

Oak relented. "I might've never been much of a help until now. But it's time to change things. I want to help you achieve your dream in a way I never had been able to help Delia." The elder man then searched in a drawer of his desk, before pulling a device.

The device, red in color strongly resembled a Nintendo DS, although there was an unprotected part of the lower body of the device that consisted of a green circle.

"This is a Pokédex."

Ash nodded, before frowning. "I know the price of those, professor. I really can't accept these."

Oak shook his head. "I knew you'd say that, hence why I offered that one. It's a fourth generation Pokédex prototype, so it has almost no valor as it's heavily outdated. I still wish you'd accept one of my prime Pokédexes, but knowing you still have that stubborn streak of yours I decided to give you this model."

The trainer wordlessly took the device and navigated through it for a few minutes.

"This Pokédex has the National Japanese Pokédex, which includes the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh pokémon. But this model's principal feature is the ITD, or Integrated Transferring Device. Mostly all of the Pokédexes worked as one way transfer devices, scanning whether you had six pokéballs with you when you captured a new pokémon, and, if that was the case, transferring the seventh to a preset location, usually the region's professor laboratory. This one is a bit different as besides transferring to a professor, it also receives a pokémon should you have a free space in your party."

"It sounds amazing, but why it isn't the standard model? I mean, even the current seventh generation Pokédexes don't have anything like that, also the interface is extremely more intuitive."

"Since it is a Gen IV Pokédex it doesn't receive any of the next generation updates, so it can't properly scan pokémon from Unova, Kalos and Alola, including the Alolan forms; besides not being able to read moves and abilities that weren't known at the time, as an example, it won't recognize my cousin's Graveler."

"Still, why the ITD wasn't included in further updates?"

"The ITD is a power hungry feature. Using it drains almost a third of the device's battery. When the researchers seemingly resolved that issue with the latest generation's Rotom Pokédex, the ITD model was so heavily outdated that it needed to be remade almost from the scrap."

"I see."

"Take it. As I said, I have a spare seventh gen, but you wouldn't accept something so expensive. My lab's PC is already set up in it, so when you have a seventh pokémon we'll be able to test the ITD properly."

"I actually have a seventh pokémon." Ash explained, pulling Bill's device from his bag. "I kept it at a friend's cottage."

"Great! Contact him and ask for him to be transferred here, in fact if you want your pokémon could be stored here, I have plenty of space."

"I'll discuss this with Bill and get back in a few minutes."

… … …

After a few minutes, Ash reentered the professor's study.

"Bill agreed, he conducts research of his own, but only asked to receive data from my pokémon and some occasional transfers."

"He should be calling with the machine's ID right…now." Ash announced as his phone began to ring.

The professor and trainer duo found itself in the upstairs research floor. The research area was the heart and soul of the laboratory and the place where Oak spent most of his time. Several technologic pieces and equipment were neatly distributed towards the area, Ash took note of a comfy looking couch, some research tables and the large window, which provided a view of the small town of Pallet. Finally he noticed the Professor's PC, and beside it the transfer machine.

Oak turned on the PC and as soon as he did, he received a video call from Bill, who appeared in the screen a few moments later.

"Professor Oak, it's an honor to speak with you, even though it's via a videoconference." The curly, brown haired youth said through the screen.

"You must be Bill, Ash spoke highly of you." Oak replied with a smile.

"Yo, 'sup Bill?" Ash greeted a bit less formally, causing the researchers to sweatdrop.

"Ash." Bill acknowledged, before addressing Oak once again. "My Transfer ID is BCC01000654323. I'll be sending a request."

A few seconds later the transfer machine turned on and a message was displayed on Oak's computer.

"_BCC01000654323 WANTS TO CONNECT. CONFIRM?"_

Oak pressed the 'YES' button before turning to Bill. "Mine's ID is POPT0000001020."

Bill nodded, before taking a regular pokéball. "The two IDs match, I'll be sending him. Good luck."

The machine made some beeping noises, before turning off and spotting a pokéball in the container space.

Oak from his PC read the info displayed in the integrated screen. "I see, a Fearow?"

Ash nodded. "You'll be using the same machine to transfer to me?"

"Yes, it is the preset device in your Pokédex. Which pokémon you'll be sending back?"

"Persian."

"The one you used against my cousin? Why?"

"Mostly to rotate my team whilst keeping coverage, I think that at our current level there's not that much more I can teach him. This doesn't mean I'll stop using him though, probably I'll call him back for the fourth gym."

Ash then took the pokéball containing the feline pokémon and placed at glowing green circle of the Pokédex. The trainer pressed a few buttons and imputed a command and soon the pokéball faded away in a light blue light, before reappearing into the receiving device at Professor Oak's computer.

The Professor quickly scanned the pokémon's info being displayed in the screen before turning to Ash. "Everything went well, ready to receive Fearow?" Upon Ash's nod the researcher got up and placed Fearow's pokéball at the transfer section. He imputed a few commands at the keyboard and soon a message flashed at Ash's Pokédex.

"_POPT0000001020 wants to transfer a pokémon. Accept?"_

Ash selected 'YES' and soon the Fearow's pokéball vanished from the transfer section at Oak's PC and appeared at the green circle. Ash took the pokéball and quickly scanned it with his Pokédex. Upon seeing the data he turned to the professor. "Everything went alright. It's a good thing that this transfer link works; something tells me I'll use it plenty when I'm on the road."

"You look like shit."

"Well, good morning to you too, Brock." Ash replied grimly.

"Let me take a wild guess, you didn't sleep at all." Brock noted, as one could clearly see the Pallet trainer's bloodshot eyes and the bags under it.

"No shit, Sherlock." Ash replied a bit too aggressively. "When the ship will arrive anyways?"

Brock glanced at his watch. "About ten minutes." He then sighed looking at his friend. "The reason you didn't slept… it has to do with the meeting you had with the professor?"

Ash shook his head. "No, things were okay with him, in fact he gave me some helpful advice. I simply didn't sleep because I wanted to optimize my time."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll spend about seven hours into this ship, I just figured time will be better spent if I used the nighttime to train and then sleep on the ship, where I would be doing nothing anyways."

"I hate to go back to boring old brother Brock mode, but you do realize that this isn't healthy right?"

"I know, but I'm working against the clock here. I've been thinking on the data Scott showed me back in Viridian… if I manage to secure this contract, I'll get a huge breathing room financially speaking. Then when it's all over I really will have a choice, I mean right now I love being a trainer, but if it changes somehow, then I'd be able to pursue my dream."

Brock nodded in agreement. "I get what you mean, before fat… I mean Flint came back I also felt like that."

"How things are with your father? You forgave him?"

"Yes, I did. But I did that for my siblings, to be honest if it came only to me I wouldn't. Still, it's nice to finally be able to travel and learn as I wanted, with a great friend alongside me too." The older teen said patting Ash's back.

"So I guess I can be thankful for Flint once." Brock admitted. "Changing subjects, how you late training session went?" he inquired.

"It could've gone better, I attempted to work with Fearow, but he obviously ignored me, so most of the time we just kept glaring at each other."

"You spent hours glaring back at your pokémon?" Brock questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"If I backed down any chance of cooperating with Fearow would've suffered a major setback. Besides by the end of day he was actually following my orders, although in a half-assed manner."

The duo conversation came to an end as a horn sounded followed by the medium sized vessel appearing.

"Let's go."

When the horn blew once again, the duo finally was at Cinnabar Island.

A much more rested Ash overlooked the isle, with Brock trailing behind him as they left the docks and Pikachu atop his shoulder.

Apparently Professor Oak's description of a tourist trap was accurate enough, at afternoon there was a huge influx of people on the island, leisurely walking through the streets which were decorated with flagpoles, resembling a street carnival of sorts. Several stalls and hotels of different qualifications outlined the streets. Still the most remarkable sight was still the volcano, Ash overheard a tour guide stating that there wasn't an eruption in over fifty years, a fact that he was certainly thankful, Cinnabar was still small and a volcanic activity would probably ravage the entire isle.

Remembering Professor Oak's other statement about the research facility, Ash decided that it was better to split up.

"Hey, Brock." He said turning to his friend. "Let's divide here; I'm afraid that if we wait too long before looking for a place to sleep we'll probably have to pay one of those expensive inns. Besides that there's a research facility Professor Oak advised us to visit, we can even attempt to revive our fossils."

"Really?" Brock asked, his ears perking up with his info. "Fossil pokémon are always partly rock types, so it'll be a great addition for my team, that's something I'm definitively interested in."

"Great, but we're out of time here, so as I said let's split up. I'll go look for the lab, you go to the pokémon center and attempt to book us a room."

"Okay, I can't say no to meeting up with Cinnabar's Nurse Joy."

"_I've been in Cinnabar for…" _Ash thought to himself before checking out his phone. _"… three hours, and I already hate this place."_ The weather had become unbearably hot, Pikachu even asked to go inside of his pokéball because of it, and the salesmen in the street weren't helping either they had been offering 'souvenirs' to him every five minutes.

Ash sighed as he glanced to his destination: the Cinnabar Pokémon Lab. It was starting to get dark, but thankfully the facility still had one of its lights on.

The facility stood at the end of yet another crowded street with plenty of stalls. The architecture was pretty simple: on the first floor there was a huge front, with walls painted white and a huge glass automatic door; on the second several glass windows which overlooked the outside and a huge pokéball logo with 'pokémon' written in black at the upper body of the logo.

Ash stepped in, but was slightly surprised with the lack of employees, be it cleaning staff or even receptionists. _"It's already six p.m., they might be already wrapping out…something that'll suck greatly as I spent my last three hours trying to find this place." _

The trainer then noticed that the electronic barrier that connected the lobby to a corridor that he presumed would lead to laboratory proper. Even knowing it was impolite, borderline a felony, Ash decided to pass the barrier. The corridor led to a huge stairway, and the trainer decided to climb as the rooms besides the hallway were locked in. The second floor's layout was similar to the first: a big hallway, with the all the rooms around it either locked in or without lights, however at the end of the corridor a huge door led to a room with its lights still turned on. Judging by the huge steel sliding door, different from the ones he had passed through, the room seemed to be where they conducted the experiments.

The teenager was about to announce his presence when he heard a low, barely audible male voice.

"I've already dismissed the employees for the day and turned off the security cameras as you ordered. Now please let me go, I have fami…."

"Shut up!" another voice, this time female, ordered with a hiss.

Ash instinctively ducked under the glass panel of the door, trying to keep his presence hidden.

The woman apparently made a call to an associate, apparently talking something about a van as he heard bits of the conversation.

When the woman appeared distracted enough into the conversation, the Vermilion trainer sneakily peeked through the glass panel. He counted six persons, the woman, who had red hair reaching neck length, dressed in a white blazer and dress hybrid (he obviously wasn't good at naming women's clothing); besides her there were four males, dressed in an almost full black outfit, with black long-sleeved shirts, pants, and caps; only having white belts, gloves and boots. Ash instantly recognized this outfit as similar to the ones he had run into the Hidden Village, where he met his Ivysaur, and in Pewter where he stopped a robbery: those were Team Rocket grunts. Finally a bald man, dressed as a scientist stood on his knees, hands cuffed behind his back.

Back on his first encounters with the villainous team, Ash openly mocked them, they were lame thieves and even worse trainers. But seeing they were able to invade a research facility, he had to admit he probably underestimated the organization.

Trying to keep his mind clear, Ash knew he had to make a decision and soon. _"Charging headfirst would be foolish; it's five against one and it can end up badly in several ways, the scientist will be caught in the crossfire or even worse, someone can have a fire gun. The woman said something about a van so she's probably planning to take something" _the trainer then narrowed his eyes, glancing at the tied scientist _"or someone."_

Hearing the woman's cellphone he quickly made his decision, hiding into one of the rooms in the corridor and waiting until he heard the oncoming footsteps. His previous musings seemed to be correct; the woman led away the group, with the scientist being carried by two of the grunt.

The teenager then went inside the experiment room, thus getting a vantage point. A few minutes later a van stopped, and the woman entered it alongside the rest of the grunts. From his position Ash could clearly see the van's license plate it was simple from now on: call the cops, anonymously for his own sake, and report the thievery from there it wouldn't be his problem anymore. It was supposed to be simple, but it wasn't. _"If I follow them I can learn more about their operations and be better prepared."_ A part of his mind reasoned, but even he knew this was just a half truth. Deep down inside Ash knew that something made him want to be a hero, truly help the scientist, so he called his Fearow, and asked him to follow the van.

Much to his surprise Fearow didn't outright tried to murder him during the fight; there were some harsh turns in and there and some unnecessary shifts in speed, but nothing that he couldn't handle. Surge's pupil even made a note to attempt flying with Fearow more often, if anything it could help with their bond.

The van took an empty road and followed it for about thirty minutes; until it finally stopped as it reached an abandoned mansion. Mostly of the building was either crumbling or had some burn marks. Apparently Team Rocked seemingly set up a temporary headquarters there as he could count three more grunts standing guard. Other thing he noted as he flew on Fearow's back was the private dock with a speedboat docked in. He asked Fearow to avoid entering the guard's line of sight and to drop him at the rooftop. Atop the roof Ash once again had to make a decision: he could either call the cops or sneak in. Mostly of the sane persons would pick option number one, but Ash was simply Ash; and if living in the slums of Vermilion taught him anything was not to blindly trust the police. He respected their work, a lot, but he wasn't naïve to believe all cops were good ones, and he had a unsettling suspicion Team Rocket would have someone inside the force.

So he cautiously climbed down the crumbled mansion until he came upon a balcony that led to the third floor. From there he saw a corridor that branched in; as he heard voices from the right he opted to turn left, finally stumbling upon a study of sorts, but he couldn't see any further due to the lack of light, and mostly of the path was either blocked by rumble or furniture, so he decided to turn away. As soon as he did he felt himself slipping, as his feet slid over something. Cursing under his breath, Ash palmed the floor before finally reaching for the object he slipped: a leather book of sorts. He pocketed the book, deciding to keep it, as it could be useful for a later occasion.

Back onto the hallway, the trainer took the right side path, sneaking around as he was pretty sure there were grunts ahead of him due to the chattering sound he heard earlier. His assumptions once again proved correct as few meters in front of him two grunts guarded a door. _"If I attempt to fight them I could alert the grunts on the inside and I'll be defeated, I need other way to bring them down. Luckily I just know how."_ Ash added with a grin, before opening two of his pokéballs, calling Ivysaur and Pidgeotto.

"Guys I need your help to bring down some Rocket Grunts." Ash explaining getting nods from both of his pokémon.

"Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder, Pidgeotto, flap your wings to create a stream directing the powder to the grunts."

Ash's plan worked as two minutes later the duo guarding the door was sleeping soundly on the floor. Seeing the duo on the floor, Ash's mind flooded with another idea, a good idea but still a disgusting one. _"Please God, forgive me for what I'm about to do."_

Ash grimaced as he stripped the passed out grunt of his clothes. _"It's a good thing Brock isn't here, I probably wouldn't have heard the end of it otherwise."_

After stripping the other grunt, the trainer concluded his line of thought. _"But it's a protective measure."_ The teenager then dressed himself in one of the uniforms he snatched away and then used the other grunt's shirt as a makeshift rope to tie the striped down to their undies soldiers.

He carefully opened the door, coming into a security office of sorts; or at least what was supposed to be surveillance system as the lone grunt standing behind the computer was browsing the web. A quick Sleep Powder later, Ash tied yet another Rocket Grunt before investigating the computer, stopping and frowning for a moment as he saw what the grunt was browsing through.

"Manchester United lost yet again? I'm disappointed but not surprised." He remarked before accessing the security system, which displayed several cameras scattered into the three floors of the building. Apparently the building had three floors plus a basement; due to the cameras he could see that the scientist was being held into the basement, with the red haired woman watching him closely.

Most of the grunts, ten to be more precise were on the first floor, five were into the second floor, whilst no one was left on the third after Ash's surprise attack.

First thing the trainer did was erase footage of him, as he was still paranoid about Team Rocket having someone inside the police. Then he played around with the switches, discovering that mostly of the doors could be locked from there. Examining the layout of the second floor, Ash identified two rooms that could be locked and whose walls weren't totally crumbled to the point someone could force his way through it; thus starting the second part of his plan.

He once again took two pokéballs, this time calling Wartortle and Pikachu. "Guys, we're storming Team's Rocket HQ at Cinnabar and I'll need you to do something for me…"

Still operating the surveillance system, the trainer then focused his attentions at the cameras on the second floor. In few seconds both Pikachu and Wartortle emerged from the different sets of stairs that connected the third and second floors. The two pokémon, from different start positions, then started to attack the grunts stationed into that level. His instructions were clear, just bother so they'll give chase, and his two oldest pokémon followed those orders clearly.

Due to the asymmetrical layout, his water type pokémon was the first to reach the target room, with two very pissed Rocked Grunts following him. When it seemed like Wartortle was cornered into the room as the grunts blocked the exit; it suddenly used a Rapid Spin attack to bounce into the walls, knocking the two grunts into the floor. As soon as Wartortle managed to escape the room, Ash pushed a switch in the surveillance system, locking the room with the grunts inside of it. _"Two out of five."_

A few seconds later Pikachu reached the other room, with three grunts following him. The scene repeated itself, with Pikachu finding himself with his back to the wall and the three grunts closing in. What happened next was gold though. Ash knew Pikachu was his fastest pokémon, but what the rodent was doing was stuff straight out of a movie: with sudden turns, using furniture and even the grunts own limbs as launching pads, Pikachu easily danced around the grunts, tiring and humiliating them in the process. When the rodent had his back to the wall he would simply nutmeg through a grunts leg. When a hand shot out attempting to grab him, the shiny pokémon would climb it and jump at the owner's head, covering their eyes; at least twice the grunts collided with the wall because of that. After a good three minutes, the three evildoers were left panting and slight dazed; Pikachu did a mock salute to them and left the room, the door closing shortly afterwards. _"Showoff." _Ash muttered, before switching the display grid to the cameras on the first floor.

After scanning the floor, the teenager knew he had his work cut out for him. It was impossible to use the same strategy he used in the floor above, there were simply too much grunts to be accounted for. He also couldn't simply go down and use brute force, as his presence would be known in less than seconds. It was getting harder, the soldiers in the second were yelling, and it was only a matter of time before someone down there heard them.

Ash sighed, his plan was to bring down the entire HQ and save the scientist; now he had to pick one out of two. And his decision was already made.

The trainer sneakily went down to the first floor and with knowledge of the layout he was able to reach the stairway that led to the basement without running into any of the grunts. Taking a deep breath he knew that what would happen next would define if he was successful or not.

Peeking through a corner he saw the lone man guarding the stairway. It was impossible to use the Sleep Powder trick he did earlier since the soldier was facing this way and would clearly see the blue powder coming his way.

It was now or nothing, Ash took off running straight towards the guard. He saw the soldier tense as he came charging forward. Soon the tension changed into a defensive posture, his hands protecting face and chest and legs forming a base as Ash cocked his fist. Then in a move that would make the likes of Gattuso, Felipe Melo and Pepe proud, he unceremoniously slide tackled the guard, sending him barreling down the stairs. He soon followed that with two elbow strikes at the grunt's head, which made the grunt pass out.

Dusting off his clothes, the trainer then readied himself for a battle, as the red-haired woman was surely behind the large doors. Due to the adrenaline that was still high in his head, rather than simply opening the door, Ash did his best Leonidas impersonation, Sparta kicking the piece of wood.

As soon as he came upon the scene he immediately had his guard up for a simple reason: the red haired woman was nowhere to be seen. Ash quickly glanced around to his left and right, seeing once again nothing; until he saw the floor as he once again tripped into something.

Well it turned out that this something was rather someone: the red haired woman herself. She was lying on her back, a large bruise on her forehead.

"She heard something and decided to go out investigate. It turned out she never made past the door." A voice that Ash recognized as belonging to the scientist spoke.

"Man…" Ash complained. "I knocked out a woman? That wasn't very chivalrous wasn't it?"

"I'm afraid it isn't." the scientist confirmed. "But still she had it coming."

The teenager shrugged his shoulders. "By the way, I came here to save you."

The scientist nodded. "You have my thanks, young man. Those Rocket people kidnapped me to attempt to revive some fossils."

"Well, I assumed it would be something like that." Ash said whilst untying the scientist wrists. "Well, let's talk later because I still need to get us out of here."

"And how do you plan to do it?"

Ash then grinned. "Blowing things up. By the way do you know how to drive?"

After tying the redhead and the grunt he slide tacked earlier, Ash sneakily climbed the stairs, with the scientist following him closely from behind. The trainer took out three pokéballs, calling up Fearow, Pidgeotto and Charmeleon.

"Fearow, Pidgeotto, there are some grunts outside on the pathway to the private dock, harass and draw them away. Charmeleon, when they are far enough, I want you to use Ember to set the boat on fire and come back here. Pidgeotto, Fearow, the same goes to you."

The pokémon nodded, and then sneaked away to do their tasks. The scientist turned to Ash?

"Now what?"

"Now we wait."

A few minutes later the pokémon trio came back and an explosion was heard afterwards.

Ash recalled his pokémon, thanking them for their work. "Follow me."

Due to the access h had to the surveillance system, Ash himself was familiarized with the mansion's layout and with careful steps he was able to reach the outside of the yard, that now was empty as he planned due to the grunts being drawn by the explosion's noise.

Seeing one of the vans, Ash then took out his scarf and wrapped it at his hand, then proceeding to punch the glass window, shattering it and the opening the car from the inside. Ash then frowned as he saw the key was still on the engine. Does that meant?

"It was a perfectly fine window." The scientist commented, opening the unlocked door, causing Ash to facepalm.

"Please, just drive."

**End of Chapter Nine**

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It has been a long time since I posted a AN, in fact I'm afraid I'm out of practice, so please forgive any mistakes I made. This story's last update was on May, so roughly a five month hiatus. I can't promise there won't be more delays, but I want to reaffirm my intention to continue writing. Now, five months... the world was surely different back then, the Area 51 raid hadn't been planned yet; the Golden State Warrior were still the team to be beaten in the NBA...

But mostly important of all, Ash still hadn't won a official league. Being honest I think the whole thing was a bit anticlimactic, even disappointing. I mean, the final match: Lycanroc vs. Lycanroc wasn't nowhere near other Ash notable battles such as Greninja vs Mega Charizard; Pikachu vs. Latios; Infernape vs. Electivire and even Charizard vs. Blastoise. Ash waited 22 years to win a league, I felt that when he finally won it would be something special; but this was just plain disappointing.

Rant aside let's go back to the reviews.

**Jerrend:** Yes, Serena was mentioned some times already; even in this chapter. She'll be making even more appearances, even talking with Ash through a video call in one. But I'm still not sure if people will like if I tag a character that still hadn't made any major appearances.

**Haro654: **I couldn't help but sneak some football references in this chapter, I'm a huge fan, and as I said in the last chapter, this UCL semifinals were really good games. Glad to see Alolan forms were well received as I took a leap of faith in adding them; they might even make a comeback in later chapters.

**frankieu: **Thanks for the review, I agree with you, Alolan forms truly made my life difficult when playing Gen VII games; that Fairy typing on Ninetales wasn't something I saw coming and my Drampa paid dearly for it.

**Shane: **Thanks again for the review, glad you liked the battle scene. Regarding Alola: I'm not sure if I'll be bringing any of the characters from there as I don't have enough plot to fit them in. I truly like Mallow, alongside with Lillie she's my favorite Alola girl, but for this story it won't happen since I'm already pushing the limits by pairing Ash with three girls. However I do have a project that will have Mallow as one of the pairings for Ash, it's still in development, but hopefully it'll be uploaded soon.

**NinjaFang1331:** This chapter brought the end of Ash's dilemma, hopefully in a manner that pleased the readers. Thanks for the review.

**AzureTemplar3535: **As I said in one of the answers above, Serena will make short appearances through this arc, mostly due to her friendship with Leaf and ever present crush on Ash. Regarding May, she'll be the first girl to truly appear as a major character, but only in the next arc (Hoenn). I've decided to keep Misty just as a female rival to Ash I have nothing personal against her, but it would simply be overcrowded and hard for the story to have the direction I want it to have if Misty was a romantic pairing. She'll appear soon enough though. Regarding the number of girls paired with Ash; whilst I was once inclined to limiting it to three, =I've been putting in some serious thought about adding a fourth, even a fifth one due to some requests; although I can't guarantee anything yet.

**SILVERE ESPADACHIN: **Whilst I'm not sure about Ash having a Alolan Graveler I can guarantee that Ash will have several electric types in his team, mostly due to Surge's influence.

**Guest : **Since I took a long break from writing I have to admit right now I can't remember how the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, I know it was the GSW but you truly can't go against them with just Harden. NBA offseason happened though, so I admit I'm curious to see how Westbrook will fit in with Harden, in my personal opinion this will be high risk high reward move, but it was still an intriguing move. It almost scares me to say that but I think my Clippers are the major contender now though, adding Kawhi and PG13 to an already great defensive team was truly a masterstroke by the front office.

**UnsanMusho: **Thanks for the kind review it truly means a lot to me. Glad you liked capitalist Scott, as he also was one of the characters I had more fun writing. It took Brock advice for Ash to come around with the loss, but the bitterness of being blown out will still linger on him a bit more, but I also used it as a chance to deepen Ash and Brock's friendship.

**Reishin Amara: **I usually pick Charmander as a starter, so mostly of the time I'd struggle in Pewter anyways, but I get what you're saying. The electric typing also removes the super-effective from Charmeleon's Metal Claw, so it would be truly a pin in the ass facing a Alolan Geodude earlier on.

**ultimateCCC: ** I'm still not decided on tagging the girls as it could be misleading since they haven't appeared physically yet. Still since this story has 200+ follows I'll probably wait a bit anyways, as I'm not that desperate for an increase in the number of readers.

**fiahy567: **Thanks for the review. This update came about three months later than I planned but it is still done though. Ash will have a Larvitar as one of his main pokémon at the start of the Hoenn Arc.

**Black Lotus15: **Great review, thanks a lot. I truly apologize if my lack of activity caused you an  
abstinence crisis. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak in some more chapters before the end of the year.

**HellsMaji (Chapter Two): ** Thanks for pointing that out. In the original version Ash was supposed to start his journey at 12, but I've decided to age him up a bit to make romance less awkward. Apparently I forgot to change all the quotes regarding that, but it should be fixed now. In case you're confused, Ash is now fourteen years old.

**HellsMaji (Chapter Seven): **Whilst in normal conditions Pikachu wasn't supposed to be defeated this easily, those weren't normal conditions. Ash hadn't lost any battle since the start of his journey and easily defeated the first two gyms easily, suddenly sees himself losing four straight pokémon without being even able to harm his opponent. Due to that; he and Pikachu had a lapse of concentration that Giovanni exploited easily.

**thunderofdeath97: **I originally planned having Leaf as a possible pairing for Gary, but I'll keep her in mind. People seem to be fond of her, so it could happen.

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This concludes today's update,please be kind to leave a review, they really mean a lot to me. Next chapter will finally feature the gym battle against Blaine.


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